Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif suspends police officers for being lenient

Islamabad, Jan 2: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has suspended a Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) and two other officers here for allegedly showing leniency towards a leader of a banned sectarian organisation.

SSP Operations Asmatullah Junejo, acting SHO of Shahzad Town police and an Assistant Sub-Inspector took a 'lenient position' while registering cases against former president of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ)'s Rawalpindi chapter, Mufti Tanvir Alam Farooqui.

Farooqui along with with six others was nabbed by a joint patrolling team of police and paramilitary Rangers on Wednesday in suburbs of the capital with several illegal weapons and taken to the Shahzad Town Police Station. A police official said that the accused were treated with leniency and set free after some time.

The accused were not charged under the laws which prohibit release of people arrested with illegal weapons. He said that the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister expressed displeasure over the incident and suspended the SSP, acting SHO and the Assistant Sub-Inspector for negligence.

ASWJ is a group of extremist Sunnis. The group is also close to banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which has been involved in several attacks at the Shia Muslims.

Sharif recently announced zero tolerance for individuals involved in militancy in wake of the Peshawar school attack which claimed the lives of 150 people, mostly children.

PTI