Hafiz Saeed's seminaries, dispensaries took over in Punjab
Islamabad: Pakistan's Punjab government has launched a crackdown on seminaries and health facilities run by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Rawalpindi.
The action came after a high-level UN sanctions team visited Rawalpindi in January to review progress against groups and individuals banned by the UN.
Following orders by the Pakistan government, the Rawalpindi administration took control of a seminary and four dispensaries run by JuD and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).
The seminary was handed over to the Auqaf Department, which controls the religious properties, while the dispensaries were given to the Health Department.
"The district administration teams have visited the seminaries, but JuD has denied any link with the madrassas," a senior district official told Dawn. He said the government had taken control of madrassa Hudabia -- which comprised a college, a school and a seminary -- and started conducting an audit of its finances to check details of the funding and expenditures.
He said a similar operation would also be launched in Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum districts.
Pakistan has come under intense pressure to act against terror groups after US President Donald Trump, in his first tweet of 2018, announced cutting all further aid to Islamabad on charges of "harboring terrorists".
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
