From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday removed Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar as Sindh’s Inspector General of Police and posted Additional Inspector General Dr Kamran Fazal as the acting police Chief of the province.
According to a notification, Mahar, a grade-22 officer who was appointed as Sindh’s police chief in February 2020, has been directed to report to the Establishment Division. In a separate notification from Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Dr Kamran Fazal, a grade-21 officer presently serving as the head of police training, was assigned to hold the “acting charge of the post of Inspector General of Police, Sindh, Karachi until further orders”. Dr Fazal has previously served as the AIG Sukkur Region as well.
The transfer of the police chief comes as Karachi has been hit by a spate of terror attacks. Three bomb blasts have been reported in the city in as many weeks.
On April 26, a suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s (KU) Confucius Institute killed four people, including these Chinese teachers. The incident happened as a van, carrying staff members, was about to enter the Confucius Institute, located next to the commerce department. The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The second attack in the city took place in the Saddar area on May 12. One passerby was killed and at least nine injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorbike went off. Like BLA, the outlawed Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) had claimed responsibility of the attack in a message over social media platforms.
The third explosion took place earlier this week on Monday when an IED blasted near the Iqbal Market and New Memon Mosque in Karachi’s Kharadar area claiming one life and leaving 11 injured.
The police are investigating the attacks as the security in the metropolis has been beefed up.
