KARACHI, Jan 31: The Sindh government has decided to call in to Karachi reserve police contingents from all districts of the province to help control the law and order situation in the city, said provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon quoting the Sindh chief minister having ordered on Thursday.

The police contingents are expected to begin arriving here on Friday (today) and would be deployed in all sensitive areas, he said, adding that a well-coordinated operation would also be launched against criminals in the city.

The information minister was talking to the media after a high-level meeting held at the Chief Minister House to review the law-and-order situation in the city.

According to a handout, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah took serious notice of the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the metropolis and decided to reinforce the city’s police force by calling in personnel from other districts of Sindh for constant vigilance and to meet the challenge of terrorism, targeted killings, extortion and kidnapping for ransom.

Presiding over the meeting, the chief minister directed all law enforcement agencies to initiate drastic action without ethnic, political, or sectarian considerations and crush with an iron hand all anti-social or anti-state elements who wanted to destabilise the government by plotting to delay the coming elections.

He reiterated the government’s resolve to hold elections on schedule in the larger interest of the country.

Stressing the need for launching relentless targeted operations in the affected areas, the chief minister directed police officials to take proactive action and purge the localities of criminals. “No excuse will be accepted in this regard”, he said.

Highlighting other aspects the deterioration law-and-order situation, the chief minister pointed out that besides political rivalries, ethnic and sectarian differences, there were also clashes of interest among different groups of land grabbers.

The chief minister instructed the anti-encroachment police to work effectively and asked for increased patrolling by the police and Rangers. He said the DIGs would be responsible for the law-and-order situations in their areas and hoped that the situation in Karachi would be normalised by joint action of police and Rangers.

The meeting was also attended by chief secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, Sindh Police IG Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari and AIG Karachi Iqbal Mehmood. In their briefings, they also discussed the issue of deteriorating law-and-order situation in detail and suggested devising a joint strategy to combat the situation and restoring peace.

Other officials who attended the meeting included Rangers DDG Brig. Muhammad Rafique Khan, Sindh prosecutor general Shahadat Awan, AIGs Sindh police and DIG’s of all districts of Karachi.

MQM delegation calls on chief minister
Earlier in the day a five-member delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), led by Sindh minister Syed Sardar Ahmed, called on the chief minister to discuss the law and order situation in the city, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s House.

The MQM delegation included information and technology minister Raza Haroon, health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed, public health engineering minister Adil Siddiqui and Sindh youth minister Faisal Subzwari, while provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon represented the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

It was decided at the meeting that the PPP and MQM would make concerted efforts for improving the law and order situation in the metropolis and take steps to protect the lives and properties of the people.

The chief minister had told the delegation that he had convened a high-level meeting to review law and order in the city in the wake of terrorist incidents which took place on Wednesday and Thursday.

The chief minister told the MQM delegation that stern and specific instructions had been given to the police, Rangers and law-enforcement agencies and their responsibilities had been determined.

CM calls on governor
The chief minister also visited the Governor House on Thursday to meet Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan.

They discussed the prevailing political situation in the province and ongoing the development works.

Taking notice of the recent incidents of terrorism in the city, the Sindh governor and chief minister directed the law enforcement agencies to take strict action against culprits and stressed that people involved in such incidents did not deserve any leniency from the law.

The Sindh governor and chief minister reiterated their resolve to further increase anti-terrorism activities, directing the law-enforcement agencies to work at their best to restore peace to the city.

They urged the officials to take action against assassins, extortionists, kidnappers and dacoits and raid their hideouts.

Karachi was the economic and commercial hub of the country and the engine of the country’s economic growth, they said, adding that the restoration of peace to the city was of vital.