KARACHI: Karachi police chief Khadim Hussain Rind has said that police and the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) would constitute a joint committee to stop extortion and land grabbing in the metropolis.

He said this while addressing a meeting at ABAD House here on Wednesday. Patron In Chief ABAD Mohsin Sheikhani, Chairman ABAD Asif Sumsum, Senior Vice Chairman Ibrahim Habib, Vice Chairman Zeeshan Siddiqui, Chairman Southern Region Mustafa Sheikhani, DIGs, other Police officers and a large number of ABAD members were present on the occasion.

The AIGP said that the police would fight to finish crimes from the city and that they had taken appropriate measure, which had given encouraging results. He said that gunshot incidents during street crimes had come down to 1.25 percent from 2 percent during the last one and a half month.

However, he said it was not enough. Such efforts were needed that would bring street crimes in the city to zero percent and make every resident of the city feel safer.

He said that short term and long term policies would be formed to stop land grabbing on builders and developers’ lands. Giving details of the policies, he said that in the short term policy, builders and developers would complain to area SSPs, who will solve the complaint within hours. In the long term policy, a committee comprising representatives of ABAD, police and Revenue department would be formed to wipe out land grabbing.

During the British rule, he said, there was one policeman for 450 people but now there was one policeman for 4800 people in Karachi, and that, too, with less than the required equipment and facilities. He lamented that mafias were given name of ‘system’ in Karachi and that Sindh police would not allow such system at any cost.

He said that builders and developers were receiving threats for extortions from Iran and Dubai against which police was actively working. Giving an example, he said that police had recently killed an extortionist at the same place where he had killed a worker of a builder.

Speaking on the occasion, former chairman and Patron In Chief ABAD Mohsin Sheikhani said that reforms at the police station level was the need of the hour as whenever they started a building project, SHO of the concerned area would arrive at the site for one or the other reasons.

He said that there was a dire need of Model Police Stations in Karachi for which they were trying form a committee with the Home Minister and Commissioner Karachi. He said that members of ABAD were busy in construction all over Pakistan but works on almost fifty percent of the projects were stopped due to the current economic crisis.

Addressing the meeting, Chairman ABAD Asif Sumsum appreciated the Karachi police for actively supporting builders and developers against extortionists and land grabbers despite limited resources. But, he said that still the police needed to do more to wipe out the menace. He demanded that all SOPs which were agreed upon during a meeting with DIGs for the safety and security of builders and developers be implemented effectively.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023