DIG, SSP Nawabshah shifted to Karachi
NAWABSHAH: Deputy
Inspector General (DIG) of Sukkur Police, Akhtar Hussain
Memon and Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Nawabshah,
Ehsanullah Gondal, who were leading the police contingent
to arrest Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf (then
COAS) at Nawabshah airport on October 12, were shifted to
Karachi for further investigations on Monday. Sources
said the two senior police officials had confessed that
they had taken the control of the airport as they were
ordered to arrest Pervez Musharraf and take him to
Irrigation Rest House, should the plane land there. The
Army personnel had driven the police contingent away from
the airport and took the two officials into custody for
investigations on October 12.
Daudpota says he has 'full authority'
KARACHI, Oct 25: Air Marshal Azim Daudpota who was sworn in as the new governor of Sindh on Monday, said he had been given "full authority by the Chief Executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to carry out my duties and responsibilities."
Talking to newsmen after the swearing-in ceremony at the Governor House in Karachi, he said he would work within the parameters of the seven-point agenda announced by the CE.
About the formation of provincial cabinet, the governor said it would be "small, comprising six to ten members."
He said he would form his cabinet after the National Securtity Council and the federal cabinet had been set up.
Referring to terrorism, Mr Daudpota said law and order would be maintained with the cooperation of the police, rangers and the army authorities. When asked whether investigation would be reopened into high-profile murder cases, he said he would look into the files of such cases. He said he had read in newspapers about certain discrepancies in the investigation of the Hakim Said murder case and he would try to ascertain facts of the case.
To a question about the process of accountability at the provincial level, Mr Daudpota said recovery of bank loans would be his "top priority," followed by initiation of a process of accountability in the province. The bureaucracy, too, would be subjected to accountability , he added.
The governor, however, ruled out the setting up of military courts for the recovery of bank loans and the accountability process.
When his attention was drawn to the plight of the people of Sindh in respect of provision of civic services, Mr Daudpota observed that he knew that the position of water supply was very serious and he would focus his attention first on this issue.
He said he believed in working round the clock. "I would not waste my time here and there in attending marriages, cutting cakes or administering the polio vaccine."
Earlier, the retired air marshal was sworn in as the governor of Sindh at a simple ceremony. The Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, administered the oath. - APP/PPI
New chief secretaries, police chiefs named
KARACHI: Authorities in
Islamabad on Monday changed secretaries and police chiefs
in Sindh, Punjab, the NWFP and Islamabad besides
reshuffling several federal secretaries, sources said.
According to the sources, Zubair Qidwai and Aftab Nabi
have been appointed as the new Chief Secretary and
Inspector General of Police, Sindh, respectively.
Talking to The News
Aftab Nabi, said he fully understands the gravity of the
law and order situation of Sindh and particularly that of
Karachi. He pledged not to leave any stone unturned to
ensure peace in the commerical hub of the country.
Hafeez Akhtar has been
appointed as Chief Secretary and Rafiq Haider as IGP
Punjab. In the NWFP, M Abdullah has been named as Chief
Secretary and Saeed Khan has been appointed as IG. M R
Zia has been asked to head the police force in Islamabad.
The sources said a
reshuffle was also conducted at the federal secretaries'
level. Federal Secretary Labour Safdar Mahmood has been
given the department of Religious Affairs. According to
sources, Zaheer Sajjad has been asked to take over as
Cabinet Secretary, while Aziz Khan, Commandant Police
Academy has been appointed Secretary Narcotics Board.
In Sindh, both Zubair
Qidwai and Aftab Nabi are not new for the provincial
set-up as Qidwai had been chief secretary Sindh and Aftab
Nabi headed the Sindh police during Liaquat Jatoi's
tenure. Zubair Qidwai headed several Sindh government
departments in Sindh and has a good reputation among the
bureaucrats. Similarly Aftab Nabi has a long standing in
Sindh police, as he had been SSP, DIG Headquarters, DIG
Karachi and Additional IGP Sindh besides heading the
Sindh police.
Aftab Nabi would be
taking charge from Asad Ashraf Mallick who was made
acting IGP Sindh when the Army toppled the Nawaz regime.
Before Asad, Wajid Rana was officiating as chief
secretary Sindh after the military takeover. Naveed Ahsan
currently additional secretary Commerce has been sent to
the Ministry of Housing and Works in the same position
while secretary Housing and Works Tanver has been made
OSD.
Lt Gen (Retd) Javed
Ashraf has been appointed secretary Railways while Dr
Safdar Mehmood, currently Secretary Labour and Manpower
has been appointed Secretary religious Affairs. Yousaf
Kamal has been made secretary Labour and Manpower.
Abdullah Yousaf, has
been appointed Secretary Planning while Mutawakal Qazi
has been made member Planning Commission. Zaheer Sajjad,
secretary Economic Affairs Division has been appointed as
secretary Cabinet Division.
Dr Zafar Altaf has been
appointed secretary Food and Agriculture while Rustam
Shah Mohmand, additional secretary Interior has been made
OSD and in his place Kamran Rasool has been appointed
additional secretary in-charge Interior Division, Capital
Administration Development Division.
Director General Health,
Dr Ghayoor Ahktar has been made OSD and has been replaced
by Maj Gen (Retd) Ahsan Ahmed. Maj Gen Anees Ahmed Bajwa
has been appointed Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive.
Nasir Khan Durrani has been made the SSP Islamabad while
Ahmed Nawaz Shanwari has been appointed as Commissioner
Islamabad and Chairman Capital Development Authority
(CDA). Major General (Retd) Ahsan Ahmed has been made
Director General Health.
Muttahida wants PML leadership punished
KARACHI, Oct 25: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Coordination Committee has said Nawaz Sharif and his cronies by abusing the Constitution has proved that the Muslim League is no more the party of the founders of Pakistan,
but it has turned into a party of anti-Pakistan and anti-people elements.
The committee members, in a statement, have asked those PML elements who claimed that their party is defender of the solidarity of Pakistan, where were they when Nawaz Sharif and his cronies had been storming the pillars of the state, including the Supreme Court, and were endangering national security by usurping the constitutional, democratic and legal rights of smaller provinces, particularly of Sindh.
They said Nawaz Sharif and his cronies in their lust for power had gone so blind that "they got veteran intellectual Hakim Said killed," and then on the basis of his assassination unleashed extrajudicial killings in urban Sindh, and the third largest political party of the country, the MQM, was made the target of the state-sponsored terrorism.
The misdeeds and anti-state steps of the PML leadership should be fully exposed, because leniency would be tantamount to enmity with the nation and the country, they maintained.
Three murdered, girl student crushed to death
KARACHI, Oct 25: A 17-year-old student of Sir Syed Girls College was killed on Monday morning when she was run over by the bus she was travelling in near Naurus Chowrangi in Site area.
Nazmeen, daughter of late Mumtaz Hussain, resident of Orangi Town, who was standing on the footboard of the bus (JA-0528) of route "7-C", lost her balance when the driver negotiated a turn violently. She fell to the ground and was run over by the rear wheels of the bus.
According to her colleagues travelling in the same bus, Nazmeeen, a first year student of pre-medicl group, who secured A grade in matric, died on the spot.
All classes at the college were immediately suspended by principal Aqeela Tanveer.
The body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where a number of college students, along with some teachers, requested the medico-legal section not to conduct autopsy. Later, the body was handed over to the paternal uncle of the deceased, Mohammed Kamal.
The principal said she had immediately closed the gates of the college to avoid any law and order situation as the college girls were charged with anger and grief over the accidental death of their colleague. Later around 10am the gates were reopened and Quran Khwani was held for the departed soul.
Sub-divisional magistrate of Site area, Matanat Ali, said the driver of the bus, Shaukat Ali, who had fled the scene after the accident, was apprehended in Sher Shah. An FIR (238/99) under Section 320 of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance has been registered against the driver and his vehicle has also been impounded.
MURDERs: Three people, including a police constable, were murdered in different places of the city on Monday.
Reports said that some policemen were allegedly smoking pot in a police van outside the City Courts when a quarrel erupted over the butt of a cigarette. As the quarrel intensified, Habib Rehman, a constable posted in MT South, grabbed the gun of constable Abdul Rasheed of the South Police Lines and sprayed constable Rajoo, posted at the Women Police Station, with bullets. Rajoo died on the spot. The policemen involved in the brawl were on duty.
Constables Habib Rehman and Rasheed were later apprehended by the police for grilling.
A donkey cart driver was hammered to death in a quarrel over monetary matter in Mauripur.
Reports said that there was a dispute between Sanaullah, a donkey cart driver, and Zakir, over Rs600. On Monday as Sanaullah and Zakir confronted each other, an altercation occurred between them during which Zakir lost his temper and allegedly attacked Sanaullah with a dagger and fled the scene. Sanaullah, who hailed from Charsadda, died shortly after he was taken to a hospital.
Shafiq, a rickshaw driver, father of five, was bludgeoned to death when he was asleep in his house in Nusrat Bhutto Colony within Sharea Noor Jehan police limits. Initial reports suspected personal vendetta as the motive for the murder.
CARJACKING: Nine vehicles were either snatched or stolen in different places of the city on Monday. The police said that two cars and two motorcycles were snatched at gunpoint. Two cars and three motorcycles were stolen in different localities. The break- up is: cars - four, motorcycles - five.
ROBBERIES: At least five robberies were committed in different places of the city on Monday.
A passenger, Yacoob, was shot and wounded when he resisted the bandits who were looting the coach passengers in Yusuf Goth on Monday. The bandits boarded the passenger coach and held up the passengers at gunpoint. When Yacoob resisted, the bandits became jittery, opened fire and fled. The police, however, drew a blank on it.
Two gunmen barged into the house of Absar Ahmed in Shareefabad and looted him of cash (amount unspecified) at gunpoint.
Mohammed Yusuf was deprived of a pistol, cash (amount unspecified) and jewellery by unidentified men at gunpoint within Aziz Bhatti police limits.
Amjad Lakhani lodged a report with the Landhi police that unidentified men looted him of cash (amount unspecified).
Bandits raided the house of Imran within Brigade police limits and got away with cash (amount unspecified), gold ornaments and a TV set.
ENCOUNTER: A pedestrian and two alleged bandits were wounded in what the police claimed an encounter near Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) on Monday.
The police said that two police officials were sitting at a tyre shop near the engineering college when three suspects riding on a car (F-6296) came there and started looting the shops. The policemen caught hold one of the suspects on which his accomplices started firing. The police returned the fire and arrested the suspects. Two of them were wounded during the exchange of fire. One was identified as Mohammed Shahid. A pedestrian was also wounded in the crossfire. He was identified as Mohammed Sabir. The wounded were shifted to a hospital where, the sources said, Sabir was in a critical condition.
ROAD ACCIDENT: An unidentified man was killed in a road accident within the limits of Mominabad police.
DROWNS: The body of a 35-year-old man was found in an under- ground water tank in an under-construction building in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Monday.
The police said that Ejaz, an officer of National Development Finance Corporation (NDFC), fell into an under-ground water tank between the night of Oct 23 and 24. Due to the weekly holiday on Sunday, Oct 24, labourers were not there, and when they came to join their duty on Monday, they found the body and informed the police.
POLICEMAN DIES: A police constable died after he was accidentally hit by a bullet on Monday outside the residence of the DSP DIB Branch West, in Malir.
The police said that Hanif, aged 26, was the driver of Ronaq Ali, DSP DIB Branch. He was waiting for Ronaq Ali outside the latter's house in Amna Society within the limits of Airport police when the gun he was holding went off and a bullet hit him. Hanif died on the spot.
Three water tankers torched
KARACHI: Miscreants set
three water tankers on fire in Korangi late on Monday
evening during a protest over acute shortage of water.
Sources said the life of the residents of sectors 33-C
and 33-D has become miserable due to the acute shortage
of water.
On the other hand, one
Chand was running his hydrant in the same vicinity and
did not allow the residents to get water without money.
On Monday some women residents of area and their children
reached the hydrant and held a demonstration. They raised
slogans. Later some miscreants turned violent and started
pelting stones on the water tankers parked on the spot.
Some of them also set three of the tankers ablaze
including (LSA-542) (LSA-2698) and (JP-0050) and fled the
scene.
The tankers were
property of Yousuf and Javed. In the meantime, police
reached the scene and dispersed the crowd of the enraged
residents. They also registered a case against the
unknown miscreants and were investigating.
Meanwhile, the Jamshed
Quarters police arrested three accused allegedly involved
in robbing shops. Sources said that two policemen of
Jamshed Quarters were present at a tyre shop near Dawood
College of Engineering and Technology when three accused
riding a car (F-6296) reached there. They got out of the
vehicle and were looting the shops. The cops warned them
but they started firing. The police returned the fire and
a bandit and a passerby were injured, receiving bullets
in crossfire.
In the meantime a mobile
team of Rangers also reached the scene and both police
and Rangers arrested the three. They identified the
wounded accused as Shahid, and passerby as Sabir. It was
also stated that the car was snatched from the Tipu
Sultan police limits early on Monday. The injured were
rushed to the Civil Hospital.
Alleged killer of Dr Aale Hasan arrested
KARACHI: The
Gulistan-e-Jauhar Police after a brief shootout late on
Monday arrested an accused allegedly involved in killing
of Dr Aale Hasan and his son Dr Mohatashim in Block 7 of
Gulistan-e-Jauhar during the recent sectarian violence,
sources in the District East Police said.
The sources said that
three armed accused resorted to firing at house No. B-135
in Block 7 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar. A mobile police
patrolling in the area when heard the gunshots reached
the spot and saw the three accused escaping from the
scene.
The police warned them
to stop, but they fired at the police, which was returned
by it. The police finally managed to overpower an accused
while his two accomplices managed their escape from the
scene. The police identified him as Puppoo Baloch. The
police also claimed recovering a TT pistol from his
possession.
When The News contacted
SSP East Bashir Memon, he said: "We have detained
the man. His accomplices, however, managed their escape,
but we are interrogating him. It is too early to say even
a single word in this regard."
Dr Aale Hasan and his
son Dr Mohatashim were gunned down during the first week
of October which injected a bloody wave of sectarian
violence throughout the city, and country. Both the
father and son were returning to their home when they
were killed by unidentified assailants who later fled the
scene.
The weeklong sectarian
strife claimed some 32 lives in the city. Surprisingly,
all those who died in this weeklong sectarian violence
were either residents of the District East or fell victim
in this district. The police had earlier claimed
detaining an accused allegedly involved in firing at
Madderssa-e-Dar-ul-Khair in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area.
Punjab bans use of loudspeaker
LAHORE, Oct 25: The Punjab government has banned the use of loudspeaker at all mosques, Imambargahs and religious congregations without prior permission.
Official sources said on Monday the government had issued directives to all commissioners, deputy commissioners, DIGs and SSPs to strictly enforce the ban in their jurisdictions.-NNI
Nawaz govt failed to check illegal plot allotments
ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The Nawaz Sharif government failed to check 550 illegal allotments of plots by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) and the Peoples Media Foundation during 1993-96.
The issue of illegal allotments by the FGEHF on the orders of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was taken up by the standing committee of the National Assembly on housing, but it failed to cancel a single plot in 32 months.
As many as 481 plots were allotted to the favourites of Benazir Bhutto, which included bureaucrats, politicians and others.
Besides, 70 illegal allotments by the Peoples Media Foundation to the twin-city newsmen of the Peoples Party during 1995 and 1996 also went unnoticed by the Muslim League government. The matter was brought to the notice of the ministry of information and media development and to the chief ehtesab commissioner but all in vain.-APP