'Court martial for security personnel involved in smuggling'

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmad Bugti on Monday said that any personnel of security forces found involved in cross-border smuggling will be court-martialed, ARY News reported.

“It won’t be right to say that security forces weren’t involved in cross-border smuggling, as smuggled items are transported via trucks, not camels,” the caretaker minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

Sarfraz Bugti noted that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir had told military personnel that whoever is found involved in illegal cross-border trade would not only be court-martialed but also be sent to jail.

He further said that the army’s accountability mechanism is not made public and that’s why it is not in the knowledge of the masses. “We have not only seen army’s accountability here, but also post May 9,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on smugglers involved in transporting commodities and dollars to Afghanistan. The crackdown bore fruit as Pakistani rupee recovered sharply against US dollar.

Addressing the press conference today, Bugti said that thousands of metric tons of wheat, sugar, urea, and petroleum products have been recovered as a result of successful anti-smuggling and anti-hoarding drive by the government.

Regarding the anti-narcotics drive, the interior minister said 43 metric tons of drugs were seized with the registration of 200 cases. He said the conviction rate in these cases is more than 80 percent, while rehabilitation centers are also being established to cure addicted people.

Talking about success in the drive against the smuggling of dollars and illegal money exchange, Bugti said 168 FIRs have been lodged with a recovery of Rs658 million.

Terrorism

Speaking of the rising terror activities, Sarfraz Bugti said that several apex committee meetings were being held to address the issue of terrorism in the country.

“We have a limited time and limited mandate and we want to fix things that are meant for daily basis,” he said.

Responding to a question, the minister said the Mastung bombing and other terror incidents were being probed. “RAW’s involvement had been found in incidents that occurred previously in Balochistan. Details of current incident will be shared after completion of investigation,” he added.

Last week, the country was rocked by two suicide blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Hangu District and Balochistan’s Mustang, which caused several casualties and left many others injured.

At least 55 people including a cop died and 100 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber targeted an Eid-Milad-un Nabi (PBUH) procession in the remote district of Mastung, Balochistan.

The same day, another suicide blast ripped through a mosque in KP’s Hangu, leaving five dead — including a policeman — and 12 injured.