Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the authorities on Saturday to track down and arrest all those responsible for arson and vandalism at the Jinnah House and military and civil installations in the next 72 hours, reported ARY News.
The instructions were given by Shehbaz Sharif while he chaired a meeting held at the Punjab Safe City Authority Headquarters in Lahore. “All the culprits, planners, instigators, and attackers involved in the vandalism should be arrested in the next 72 hours,” PM Sharif said, ARY News reported.
“This is a critical task that requires swift action to ensure the safety and security of our citizens,” Pakistan’s prime minister further stated. He expressed regret over the Safe City Project’s destruction during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tenure.
“I am deeply disturbed by this situation, and I would like to request the chief minister to take immediate action,” Sharif said. He added that he clearly told Punjab’s caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi that any act of sabotage is unacceptable and the culprits will be arrested and made to appear before the court for justice, according to the report published by the ARY News.
Sharif stated that he informed around 40 to 60 per cent of CCTV cameras were found to be non-functional in the last five years. He stated that the Safe City System which has been designed to protect people has suffered because of criminal negligence.
He further directed to increase the number of anti-terrorism courts present in the province where they can swiftly begin legal proceedings against all culprits.
It is time to do or die or now or never. The real culprits who showed this kind of enmity against the motherland should be arrested and produced in anti-terrorism courts under the relevant laws. These elements should be arrested immediately,” Shehbaz Sharif was quoted as saying by the ARY News.
Taking to Twitter, PM Sharif tweeted, “I have given law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public & private properties. All available resources including technological aid & intelligence are being deployed to chase down these elements. Bringing these people to justice is a test case for the government. Their cases will be tried by the anti-terrorism courts.”
Earlier, Punjab’s caretaker CM Mohsin Naqvi and PM Sharif visited the vandalised Lahore Corps Commander House where he expressed solidarity with the military leadership of the country. The prime minister also visited the Services Hospital and met the injured personnel