Daily Times

KARACHI: Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Maula Bux Chandio, while briefing the media after the provincial apex committee meeting on Wednesday, said that the Sindh government has allowed establishment of at least 30 more anti-terrorism courts (ATCs), recruit 8,000 policemen and 20 prosecutors to deal with scourge of terrorism and improve the law and order situation in Karachi and the province.

“Eight thousand more police personnel will be recruited to strengthen the police force and the number of CCTV cameras in Karachi and the province will be increased,” said Chandio. “The government has not taken any decision regarding the deployment of Rangers and Pakistan Army personnel in polling stations during local body polls in Karachi,” said Chandio. He added that the government will follow whatever decision ECP will take in this regard. “If a security issue arises during the polls, Rangers will be allowed to enter the polling station,” Chandio told media.

A meeting of the Sindh apex committee was held on Wednesday, during which implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), Karachi operation and the security situation in Karachi is being discussed. At the onset of the meeting, prayer was said for the two military personnel who were killed in an attack on Karachi’s M.A. Jinnah road on Tuesday. The meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, was attended by Rangers director-general Bilal Akbar, a representative of corps headquarters, high officials of law-enforcement agencies and the government.

In a separate meeting with Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and DG Rangers Gen Bilal Akbar, Qaim Ali Shah said implementation of NAP is a duty of the provincial government. Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad also attended this meeting. The apex body meeting finalised the security arrangements for Chehlum of Imam Hussain and local government polls, and discussed the ongoing cases in military courts and Tuesday’s attack on military police, sources said. DG Rangers Gen Bilal and Sindh Police Inspector General (IG) Ghulam Hyder Jamali briefed the meeting on the Karachi operation.

The apex body meeting comes just a day after two masked men on a motorbike shot dead two army personnel as they targeted a Military Police jeep on MA Jinnah Road, one of the city’s busiest arteries, sowing fear and panic in the neighbourhood.