Court of Inquiry removes state institutions’ officials over Karachi incident mishandle

Pakistan to continue work with SCO for shared objectives of regional peace, stability

RAWALPINDI, Nov 10 (APP): A Court of Inquiry, on the orders of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Tuesday removed officials of two state institutions on miscalculated response to Karachi incident of desecration of Quaid-e-Azam Mausoleum.

The Inquiry pertaining to the issue of redress of Inspector General Police Sindh’s grievances, in the backdrop of 18 October, 2020 Karachi incident, was completed, said an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release.

The Court of Inquiry had established that on the night of 18 and 19 October officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid, it added.

The inquiry report had also mentioned that the officers 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 ISI and Rangers officers decided to act, rather over zealously,” it said.

Keeping in view the response made as miscalculated rather out of zeal and fervour, the inquiry report had revealed that 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 was decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at General Headquarters (GHQ).

APP Services