Sindh Minister for Information, Archives and Labour Saeed Ghani on Friday termed the report issued against him by Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Rizwan Ahmed as baseless, false and fictitious.
The provincial information minister said that if the blames mentioned in the report were true, then he would not only give up politics but also would also invite severe punishment. He said this while addressing a press conference on Friday. Saeed Ghani said that he would appeal to Chief Minister Sindh to investigate the allegations against him by a competent and unbiased officer. The Provincial Minister for Information and Labour said that in his constituency, Chenisar Goth, false allegations on the politicians were made that if they were patronizing the drug dealers.
Citing the reasons of allegations articulated in the report, Saeed Ghani said that Dr Rizwan felt distasted when he asked the then Inspector General of Police, Sindh AD Khawaja and DIG Sultan Khawaja to take action against the drug peddlers in his constituency, Chanesar Goth. The minister explained that how much difficulty he had to face to establish contact with these two officers. The action that these two officers took after being contacted was insufficient, as most of the innocent people were arrested in their action so that we had to face political pressure, the minister added.
He said that when Dr Rizwan became Superintendent of Police, Jamshed Town, he tried to engage my brother Farhan Ghani, who was the then Chairman of Union Council, in espionage against the residents of the area. Not only this, SSP Dr Rizwan also demanded furniture and eight motorcycles from my brother for Police check post of the area, he added.
Saeed Ghani said that my brother straightway refused to fulfil all the demands of SP Dr Rizwan by saying that the police should conduct their legitimate activities in the area and we would cooperate with them. Provincial Minister of Information and Labour Saeed Ghani said that after Dr Rizwan’s posting as Superintendent of Police Jamshed Town, the drug trade in the area grew exponentially. He said that he never contacted any criminal for support. He said the only reason for the allegations against him was the repeated requests for action against the drug dealers.
Saeed Ghani also slammed Sindh Police, alleging that they were involved in extra-judicial killings and claiming they had become similar to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
His comments came a day after a report prepared by Shikarpur SSP alleged that the provincial minister for energy, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, was running a crime wing and influenced police hiring.
The information minister’s accusations added to the rapidly worsening relations between Sindh Police and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) leaders, days after the provincial cabinet recommended removing the inspector-general of police (IGP), Dr Kaleem Imam, over unsatisfactory performance.
Ghani, while speaking to the media, called SSP Ahmed a “third-class police officer”, labelling Sindh Police as the new emerging opposition party akin to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
He also noted that IGP Imam should step down from his post given his current behaviour, allowing him to openly express his thoughts. The top police officer needed to change his conduct if he wished to continue as a civil servant, he added.
“The IG Sindh has become an extremely controversial person and his police career is done for,” the minister said. “The way the police officers are working is concerning; they regularly brief opposition leaders and are together going to the lawyers.
“The police officers are feeding news to the media alongside the opposition leaders,” he added, criticising the way things were being done in the police department and stressing that the centre behaved the way it did with people from Sindh and political parties because it considered the province to be a stepchild.
The provincial minister said he believed the Sindh Police had become similar to the country’s anti-graft watchdog in that they initiate action against whoever speaks against them.
“Sindh Chief Minister [Murad Ali Shah] should conduct a full inquiry in this matter,” he said. “I appeal to Sindh CM to probe the allegations levelled on me and investigate all localities where Dr Rizwan had been posted, as well as our assets.
“Dr Rizwan Ahmed is a third-class, indecent, and cheap police officer. After provincial minister Imtiaz Shaikh, a false report against me was released,” he said, noting that the police officer was posted for a year in his constituency.
Referring to the report, he said it included the names of certain criminals and was compiled after the cabinet’s decision to remove IG Imam. “The report against Imtiaz Shaikh [Sindh’s energy minister] seems to have been made on January 16,” he added.
Another report published in an English newspaper in 2018, he said, had alleged that Chanesar Goth politicians were accused of protecting and leading drug peddlers.
He said he had penned a letter to then-Sindh IG AD Khawaja, asking for facts and requesting an inquiry but there was no response. At the time, he explained, Dr Rizwan Ahmed had been posted as the Jamshed Town SSP and drug-selling became very common right after.
“He called my younger brother, Farhan Ghani. I complained about the criminals to DIG (deputy inspector general) Sultan Ali Khawaja and Sohail Anwar Siyal was the home minister then,” he said.
However, he could not meet the DIG or the additional IG despite many attempts, which he then relayed to Siyal. “I told Sohail Siyal that his DIGs and AIGs were not meeting me and the police were not working, so I will take up this matter in the assembly,” the minister said. Ghani claimed that the police used to arrest “two criminals alongside 20 innocent people”.
“One person left the MQM to join the PPP so the police went after him. But the police’s job is to catch criminals,” he said. “My brother was asked to be a spy for the police, told to arrange eight motorcycles and a chowki (checkpoint) in Chanesar Goth.
“Our workers were killed extra-judicially. My brother, Farhan, was alleged to be a leader and protector of drug-sellers. We were knowingly dragged into this matter. And when we talked about the cabinet’s decision to remove Imam, the report [of allegations] was released,” he concluded.
