The Rangers and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers involved in the Karachi incident have been removed from their positions in light of the recommendation by the Court of Inquiry formed by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa to investigate the matter.
Last month, an inquiry was ordered by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) after several senior officials of the Sindh police had sought an extended leave from duty stating that they felt demoralized due to circumstances surrounding the arrest of PML-N leader retired Capt Mohammad Safdar.
The statement came from the ISPR after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari requested Gen Bajwa and ISI Director General Faiz Hameed to investigate the circumstances of Capt. Safdar’s arrest.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in its statement:
The court of inquiry has established that on the night of Oct 18/Oct 19, officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of the desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid.
They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law. Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned officers decided to act, rather overzealously,
They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to misunderstanding between the two state institutions.
Based on the recommendations of the court of inquiry, it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ,
However, the IG Sindh Mushtaq Mahar ended up deferring his leave while requesting other officers to set hold off on their leave applications after COAS ordered an inquiry into the incident.
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