Saeed Ghani’s brother harbouring hitmen, facilitating drug peddlers: secret report carries allegations against another Sindh minister

KARACHI: In the ongoing tussle between the Sindh government and the Sindh Police, a second police secret report by SSP Dr Rizwan Ahmed Khan has leveled allegations against the brother of another provincial minister Saeed Ghani for his nexus with "drug peddlers and hitmen". 

This report was submitted in 2017 when the police officer was posted in Jamshed Town, Karachi. Khan on Thursday had leveled serious allegations against provincial Minister Imtiaz Shaikh.

Back in 2017 when SSP Dr Rizwan Ahmed Khan was posted in Jamshed Town, he had sent a report to his senior officers accusing Farhan Ghani, minister's brother, of running a network of assassins and drug peddlers along with Hassan alias Natha in Chenasar Goth. Hassan is named in 17 cases of dealing in narcotics at Mehmoodabad police station and one with the Anti-Narcotics Force. Reading like an expose of criminal-political nexus, the police report discloses that Hassan confessed to being in contact with Farhan Ghani, making their telephone records part of the report. The report added that Zaheer Ahmed, a close aide of drug peddler, is an employee at Saeed Ghani’s office. The report also exposes the involvement of a policeman of Mehmoodabad police station in drug selling and an official of the Excise department connected with the group. Both the officials reportedly used to inform the drug peddlers of any impending police action leading to their failure, the report concluded.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani has strongly

rejected and termed baseless the police report about his brother’s connections with drug peddlers.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, an irate Ghani charged that the police are acting as a political party. “The conduct of some of the police officers has been unbecoming. They are spreading fake news besides holding meetings with lawyers and the opposition,” said the information minister. He said that the incumbent Inspector General of Sindh Police had assumed such conduct, which would not boost his career. “It is a group of merely two to four officers showing such conduct and the reason behind such action is that Sindh is being treated in a step-motherly manner. It is stated that the best officers are posted in Punjab (as IG) but the same officer is removed from the post within three to four months,” he said.

Ghani said “I should be blamed if I am found ever approaching any police officer even an IG for any favours and request the Sindh chief minister to depute an officer of good reputation to investigate the allegations against me.” The minister offered to quit politics and face any punishment if the allegations turned out to be true. He said the report doing rounds on social media was compiled after the cabinet's decision to remove the IGP Sindh. He said it also seemed that the police report against Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh was also compiled on 16th January (after the meeting of Sindh cabinet) but the date of 13th January was deliberately put on it.

Ghani alleged that a team was available to the controversial police officer Dr Rizwan Ahmed involved in all kinds of illegal actions. “That is why I demand a probe against Dr Rizwan, covering all the places where he has served to expose his shenanigans,” he said. “The reality will come to fore if a probe is conducted into my assets and that of Dr Rizwan,” said the provincial information minister. Ghani charged that his political supporters were unduly apprehended during the course of general elections. He said Dr Rizwan had remained posted in his constituency in Karachi for one year. The minister claimed that he does not know the identity of any police officer posted in his constituency and was even unaware of the SHO posted in his locality. “It is my request that both inquiry and verification should be done against such an official and I will exercise all options even if it includes moving the court against him.”

The Sindh labour minister said that in his constituency, Chanesar Goth, false allegations were made against politicians for patronizing the drug dealers. Citing the reasons of allegations articulated in the report against him, Saeed Ghani said that Dr. Rizwan got annoyed with him, when he (minister) asked the-then Inspector General of Police, Sindh A.D. Khwaja and DIG Sultan Khawaja to take action against the drug peddlers in his constituency of Chanesar Goth. Ghani explained that it was with a lot of difficulties that he could reach these officers.

The action taken by the two officers was hardly sufficient, and mostly innocent people were arrested, bringing them under intense political pressure, the minister added.

He said that when Dr. Rizwan became the SSP Jamshed Town, he (the police officer) had tried to engage his brother Farhan Ghani, who was the-then Chairman of Union Council as a police informer against the residents of the area. Dr. Rizwan also demanded furniture and eight motorcycles from his brother for a police check post of the area, he added. Ghani said that his brother straightway refused to fulfill the demands by saying that they would only cooperate with the police in their legitimate activities in the area.