IGP Sindh was not abducted, says Murtaza Wahab

• Wahab says Sindh to take up PTI leaders' involvement in Karachi incident with the Centre
• Spokesperson says Sindh has evidence that the province's population was not counted accurately in 2017 census
• MQM-P should to leave the government before coming out on the street, says Wahab

KARACHI: Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab on Friday said that people should be careful while speaking about Inspector-General Sindh as it is a credible designation, adding that Mushtaq Mehar "was not abducted."

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Wahab said that PTI MPA Raja Azhar had filed an FIR against Captain (retd) Safdar, adding that the country has a clear-cut law regarding the sanctity of Mazar-e-Quaid and a report in relation to the matter was also submitted before the cabinet.

Wahab said the police had raised a legal point, saying that the application should be submitted to a magistrate instead of police, after which PTI leaders tried to submit another petition but the police rejected it once again.

"Under the circumstances, the attitude of PTI members was inappropriate, Wahab said.

Read more: Federal ministers, PTI MPAs pressurised Sindh Police to arrest PML-N's Safdar Awan

The spokesperson added that the report of the Karachi incident was submitted to the provincial cabinet within 30 days but it was only approved yesterday.

Citing the report, Wahab said that the federal government and PTI leaders "used the incident for politicking."

"They agreed with the police report that the FIR was false, so the court dismissed it," he said.

The spokesperson said that the prayer leader, who was present at the shrine, also told the police that such an incident did not take place.

Read more: Captain Safdar released on bail hours after arrest from Karachi hotel

Speaking further, Wahab said that in the video, it could be seen that several PTI leaders were present at the police station and a key federal minister also reached there to pressurise the police.

Wahab maintained that Sindh would write a letter to the federal government, where they would highlight that PTI leaders had interfered with police work.

"The police came under pressure and registered the FIR, while it was the job of the investigation officer to analyse things and then register the FIR," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking about the census, he claimed that he could prove that the province's population was inaccurately counted and that Sindh would write a letter to the federal government in this regard.

Read more: 'We are not kids, did not think even for a second PPP was behind Captain Safdar's arrest'

"The federal cabinet makes unconstitutional decisions during Imran Khan's rule," he said.

Moreover, speaking about MQM-P, he said that the party should "leave the government, rather than coming out on the streets."

What did the report state?

A ministerial committee probing the arrest of Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar Awan found that the Sindh Police was pressurised by the federal government and PTI MPAs to take action against the PML-N leader.

On October 22, the Sindh government had established the ministerial committee to investigate the arrest of PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz’s husband after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) jalsa in Karachi and the "alleged mishandling of the highest level of police”.

The matter was also probed by the armed forces on the directives of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa. After the inquiry, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced the removal of some officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan Rangers Sindh from their current assignments for acting “overzealously”.

The Sindh committee on Thursday presented its report before the provincial cabinet. The findings accuse federal ministers and local lawmakers belonging to PTI of pressurising the police into registering a case against Awan for raising political slogans in the premises of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum.

The report said hooliganism within the mausoleum is a case whose cognizance should be taken up by a magistrate and not the police. But the police was forced to act due to pressure by the federal government and the PTI MPAs to lodge a case against Awan over a ‘fake complaint’ filed by a person who was not even present at the mausoleum.

Read more: At Mazar-e-Quaid, Captain Safdar has people chant PML-N slogan 'vote ko izzat do'

The report said matter of Sindh IGP Mushtaq Mahar had already been settled through the action taken by the army chief.

Although the cabinet decided to not make the report public, it would appraise the federal government about the interference of its ministers and PTI legislators in Sindh. 

Captain Safdar's arrest

Retired Captain Safdar — Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law and Maryam Nawaz's spouse — was arrested in October by Sindh Police for, among other charges, allegedly violating the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam's Mazar (also called Mazar-e-Quaid).

The sanctity of the Quaid's Mazar is protected by The Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971, which explicitly forbids political activities within the premises of the mausoleum.

"No person shall organise, convene or take part in any meeting or demonstration or procession or engage in political activity within the premises of Quaid's mausoleum or within a distance of ten feet from the outer boundary thereof," reads the law on the matter.