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Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon has dismissed claims made by Chinese investors, alleging harassment by Sindh police, stating that no complaint of extortion has been reported in the entire province.

Six Chinese investors filed a petition in the Sindh High Court on Friday against alleged extortion and harassment by police in Karachi.

According to the complaint, the Chinese businessmen sought protection from the court over the “culture of bribe” in the Sindh police, asserting they may need to move to Lahore or return to their homeland if the situation persists.

Expressing their grievances, the Chinese complainants told the court that they, along with thousands of other fellow citizens, came to Pakistan after fulfilling all the legal requirements and investing a significant amount of money in various local business ventures.

They also expressed disappointment over the restrictions they faced in the name of security.

The details of repeated harassment over the last six to seven months were outlined. Among the concerns were unjustifiable restrictions on their movements, being detained, or “literally being locked” in their homes on the pretext of security without any clear legal reason.

In one incident, the Chinese nationals were released after paying bribes of Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. The petitioners also recounted that the Sindh police had sealed the industrial units of other Chinese investors in the Sukhan area of Sindh for the same security reasons.

They accused the police of targeting their cars with stones, smashing the rear windows, and claimed they had to pay large sums for repairs. They also asserted that the deployed police officials were highly unprofessional and disturbed their privacy, demanding tips ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000.

The Chinese petitioners also revealed that they were not allowed to lodge FIRs against these offences. One petitioner mentioned that his translator was detained when he attempted to report a theft of two million rupees at his residence, and the police refused to register the FIR.

They requested the court to address their grievances and declare the alleged detention and movement restrictions illegal.

The two-judge bench of SHC, comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon, has put the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, its consulate in Karachi, and federal and provincial law officers on notice.

Speaking to a private news outlet, IG Sindh police asserted that the movement of Chinese nationals has been significantly restricted due to security concerns. “We cannot compromise on the safety of our Chinese brothers,” he said, reiterating that the steps taken are necessary to ensure their protection.

The police, however, are investigating the claims made by the Chinese nationals and are determined to address the related issues.

Eight out of 17 officials from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have been rescued from the custody of militant groups, Dawn reports, citing sources.

Earlier, it was reported that at least 16 private workers of the PAEC, along with their driver, were allegedly kidnapped by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday in the southern Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The local police say that the incident took place on Thursday morning in the area of Qabul Khel, known to have a huge collection of uranium mines operated under the Atomic Energy Commission.

However, a recent report suggests that a senior police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that a rescue operation was immediately launched after the partially successful incident. “Eight workers have been recovered so far, including one who was injured,” the official said.

Another official claimed that three workers had been injured and were transferred to the district headquarters hospital.

The kidnapped PAEC workers were on their way to a project site in the Qaboolkhel area of Lakki Marwat when their van was intercepted by armed militants near Wanda Painda Khan.

The kidnappers took the hostages to an unknown location and set the van on fire in a forested area along the Kurram River.

A few hours after the kidnapping, videos allegedly showing the kidnapped employees surfaced online. In these videos, the workers stated that they were in a safe place with the Taliban and appealed to the government to accept the kidnappers’ demands for their release.

However, the BBC reports that they have not been able to verify the videos independently.

The banned militant outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), issued a threat last week to target Pakistan’s military-economic projects.

The situation in Lakki Marwat has been tense for the past year and a half, with repeated attacks on law enforcement officials.

Separately, the police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed three terrorists from the Teepu Gull group, an affiliate of the TTP, during a joint operation in the Malang Adda area of Lakki Marwat on Thursday.

The operation was intelligence-based, and the killed terrorists were reportedly involved in attacks on law enforcement personnel, bombings, and other acts of terrorism.

The eleven points of the cipher, which former prime minister (PM) Imran Khan claimed proves the United States’ (US) involvement in toppling of his government three years ago, have been revealed.

On March 27, 2022, less than a month before the no-confidence vote against Khan, he waved a letter before a huge crowd at a public rally. He claimed it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to overthrow the government.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter or mentioned the country it came from. However, a few days later, he accused the US of conspiring against him and alleged that Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The News quoted sources as saying that one of the points of the cipher pertained to US State Department official Donald Lu complaining that then-PM Khan openly assailed the US administration and supported the Taliban.

“Pakistan’s ambassador informed Donald Lu about his transfer to Belgium and mentioned that Lu could not arrange a meeting between Pakistan’s prime minister [Imran Khan] and US President Joe Biden. In response, Donald Lu complained that Pakistan’s PM openly criticised the US administration and supported the Taliban,” the report quoted sources as saying.

They further quoted Lu as saying that the same had “damaged relations between the two countries, and reviving these ties would take time.”

“We need to work together to revive relations and normalise ties between the two countries, both now and after the vote of no-confidence,” the source quoted him as saying.

The conversation points were reportedly recorded when Donald Lu attended a farewell lunch at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington. Three US officials and four Pakistani officials sat at the same table, the report said.

According to the report, Pakistan’s ambassador, during said discussion, talked about the relationship between the Pakistani and the US administrations. After the event, the ambassador sent a cipher to the Foreign Office summarising an 11-point discussion with Lu, the source was quoted as saying.

Other points focused on trade and illegal immigration, the report said. For instance, it added, one point mentioned Lu discussing the reasons behind Pakistan’s low rice export volume to the US that year.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Tuesday said that women intending to go on Hajj this year but not granted permission by their husbands or parents to do so will not be able to perform the pilgrimage. 

The statement has been released after Hajj applications for 2025 have closed. 

Dawn quotes the 2025 Hajj Policy, which clearly states that women will be able to travel to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage alone after fulfilling the conditions set by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

The conditions laid out by the Council quoted in the document says, “As per the decision of the Council of Islamic Ideology taken in its session no. 232 held on 6th and 7th June 2023, female pilgrim (without mehram) shall be allowed for Haj subject to the conditions that: a) She has been allowed by her parents, and in case of married, by her husband. b) She will have a group of reliable female pilgrims and there is no threat to her dignity.”
The practice has already been happening in the country as women were not allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia alone in the past. 

The document further stated that children below 12 will not be allowed to go for Hajj and the immunisation of vaccines approved by Saudi Arabia are also mandatory for everyone intending to come this year.

Notably, as per the policies of Saudi Arabia, any woman can come for Hajj alone. The move first surfaced in 2021 as part of a campaign by the de-facto Saudi leader Prince Mohammad bin Salman in an attempt to improve the rights of women in the country.

The CII lifted all restrictions and allowed women to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah without a male companion. 

Moreover, this year, Pakistanis are allotted a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims by the Saudi government. 

Approximately 89,602 people will be performing the Hajj under the government scheme, while the rest will perform it through private tour operators in 2025.