BADIN: Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D.

Khowaja has said that the matter of his removal or otherwise is pending adjudication in a court of law and therefore he must not make any comment.

During his visit to Tando Mohammed Khan and Matli towns on Friday to inaugurate police reporting rooms, he was faced with a flurry of questions about the Sindh government`s repeated attempts to remove him. He, however, did not make any comment. But the IGP did tell reporters that his holding of the office was not controversial, while he was not adamant about sticking to the post. He said he would continue to discharge his responsibilities honestly as long as he was in the office of the IGP.

`I will leave no stone unturned to deliver the goods to the people of this province. I have always tried to make sincere ef fortstowards boosting the morale of my subordinates so that they could live up to the expectations of the law-abiding and peaceful people of this province,` he said.

IGP Khowaja spoke of the public support for his effortstowards purging the police department of political elements and ridding it of political influence. `The publicsupport is my pride,` he said, and defended his moves to remove those officers, from top to the SHOlevel, for their political allegiance.

The Sindh police chief, in replyto a question,said that a reward of Rs5 million had just been announced for anyone providing a clue to the facilitators of the culprit who had blown himself up at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine on Feb 16.

He expressed his confidence that the police and other law enforcement agencies would succeed in netting all those involved in the carnage.

IGP Khowaja noted that the Sindh police department was spending 85 per cent of its allocated funds under the head of salaries.

`There is a lot more to be done to improve policing at the police station level,` he said, adding that reporting rooms at all police stations were being set up to facilitate public service by the police. Earlier, the IGP, along with Hyderabad DIG Khadim Hussain Rind, inaugurated the new building of the Tando Ghulam Ali police station.