COAS Gen Bajwa directs inquiry into ‘Karachi incident’
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has ordered an investigation into the recent “Karachi incident”, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated on Tuesday.
According to the military’s media wing: “[Gen Bajwa] has directed Commander Karachi Corps to immediately inquire in to the circumstances to determine the facts and report back as soon as possible.”
The statement by ISPR comes moments after PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held a press conference at Bilawal House in Karachi and asked Gen Bajwa and Director General Inter Services Intelligence, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to launch an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding PML-N leader retired Captain Safdar’s arrest.
Bilawal in the press conference has revealed reports of the police being pressurised to register a police complaint against Safdar.
Addressing the press conference, Bilawal said that every police officer in Sindh, from a station house officer to senior police officers, were wondering who had “surrounded IG Sindh Mushtaq Mahar’s office at 2am on Sunday night”.
“Who were the two persons who went inside the IG’s house at 2am and where was our IG taken at 4am in the morning?” he inquired.
The PPP chariman urged Gen Bajwa and Lt Gen Hameed to launch an inquiry into their institutions and determine how their people were operating in the province.
“Persons from these institutions should be focusing on matters of national security and the law and order issues of the province,” he said. “Our civilian institutions and these institutions have to work together [to uphold the law in Sindh].”
Bilawal “condemned” the interference in police matters and said the act was merely “intolerable”.
Later on, Media Cell of Bilawal House released a statement saying that Gen Bajwa and Bilawal spoke on the telephone “to discuss the Karachi incident”.
According to the statement, the PPP chairman “expressed his appreciation” to the COAS “for taking prompt notice of the Karachi incident and his assurance of conducting a transparent inquiry on the incident”.
