Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan
on Thursday said criminal gangs with political backing were
responsible for the violence and target killings in the
country's financial capital and asked the government to take
stern action to eliminate their dens.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry while announcing the verdict criticised the
provincial Sindh government for failing to take effective
measures against target killings and extortion in Karachi
which is the financial hub of Pakistan.
The CJP Chief took a suo motu notice on the appeal of
Allama Tahirul Qadri, the head of the Tehreek-e-Minhajul
Quran, in a bid to improve the law and order conditions in the
city, where more than 1,000 people have been killed this year.
Quoting intelligence reports Chaudhry noted that the main
reason for the violence and target killings in the city was
the presence of criminal gangs in all political parties.
He said that these criminal gangs had political backing
and were involved in extortion racket with impunity.
The court said that banned outfits including Sunni
Tehreek are involved in extortion, while there are allegations
of the same offence against parties such as Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP), Jamat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP)
and MQM are also involved in this racket.
The CJP in his remarks also quoted the Inspector General
of Police of Sindh as saying that the police force was
demoralised mainly because of the fact that 40 per cent of the
police officials had been recruited on political grounds who
are reluctant to act decisively.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, October 06, 2011, 23:51