Karachi incident: Bajwa assures Bilawal of probe
islamabad — Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa held talks with Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto and ordered an inquiry into allegations that the police chief of Sindh province was kidnapped by troops to force him to order the arrest of the sonin-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The development came after Bilawal Bhutto, while addressing a news conference, requested the army chief and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed to investigate how the Sindh police chief was pressured into registering a case against Mohammed Safdar who is also a PML-N leader.
“Taking notice of the Karachi incident, the COAS [chief of the army staff] has directed the Karachi Corps Commander to immediately inquire into the circumstances to determine the facts and report back as soon as possible,” said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“The PPP chairman expressed his appreciation to the COAS for
Bilawal BhuttoZardari
taking prompt notice of the Karachi incident and his assurance of conducting a transparent inquiry on the incident,” the PPP Media Cell later tweeted.
Safdar was arrested by the Sindh police from a hotel in Karachi for allegedly disrespecting the mausoleum of Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
He was released hours after a local court approved his bail, but a controversy ensued amid allegations he was arrested by paramilitary Rangers after they pressured provincial chief Mushtaq Mehar to sign orders for Safdar’s arrest.
Neither the Rangers nor Prime Minister Imran Khan have commented, but some police officers, angered over Mehar’s treatment, applied for a leave of absence in response to the alleged mistreatment of the police chief. Officials say police had initially refused to arrest Safdar.
Mehar, in a brief statement, said he too considered taking a leave of absence, but changed his mind and asked his officers to defer going on leave for 10 days to give authorities a chance to investigate the matter. He did not say who abducted him or who forcibly took him to the offices of the Rangers.
In a series of tweets, the Sindh provincial police said the “unfortunate incident” had “caused great heartache and resentment within all ranks of Sindh Police”. Police thanked the army chief for ordering an investigation into the incident.
Early on Monday morning, Maryam Nawaz, wife of Safdar, tweeted that Safdar had been arrested from a hotel they were staying at in Karachi.