Pak Senate for action against cops

15 March 2011 09:05 am Views - 3123

The Pakistan Senate Standing Committee on Sports has directed the establishment division to take action against the police officials found guilty of not providing security cover to the Sri Lankan cricket team ambushed by terrorists in Lahore in 2009, if Punjab was reluctant to initiate the process.

The direction was given during a committee meeting in Islamabad a few days ago, the Dawn quoted federal government sources, as saying.

The Sri Lankan team was ambushed on its way to Qaddafi Stadium to play a Test against Pakistan on March 3, 2009. Six policemen and a driver were killed, and seven Sri Lankan players and an assistant coach were injured in the terror attack.

The Lahore High Court had conducted a judicial inquiry into the incident that occurred during governor’s rule in Punjab, and declared several police officials guilty.

The judicial inquiry had held the then SP Security, the then Model Town SP (Operations), the then Mujahid Squad SP, and the then Civil Lines SP responsible, as they were allegedly sleeping at their homes at the time of the incident, while an ASP was heading the cricketers’ escort.

However, the PML-N-led Punjab Government constituted another committee headed by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, which declared the then IGP Khawaja Khalid Farooq wholly responsible for the security lapse. Khawaja retired from service on October 11, 2010.

The Punjab government has been sending this report to the Senate committee whenever it meets to check whether the Shabbar Raza Rizvi (judicial) report has been implemented or not.

During the meeting, the committee asked the establishment division to directly proceed against all those declared guilty of dereliction of duty in the judicial inquiry, if Punjab was reluctant to do so.

“Start action against all of them after getting approval from the authority concerned. And as a first step recall all of them from Punjab,” the committee reportedly observed.

The committee said that the officials who defamed the country were being protected by the Punjab government. The attack adversely affected Pakistan’s reputation, depriving it of the opportunity to co-host the 2011 World Cup. (ANI)