ISLAMABAD, Caretaker Minister for Interior Sarfraz Bugti on Wednesday vowed to wipe out the menaces of smuggling and terrorism from Pakistan with the full support of the nation.

The caretaker government was fully determined to eliminate smuggling of any food items and dollars from the country, he said while talking to a private television channel.

Smuggling of essential items and dollars were criminal activities which must be stopped at any cost, he added.

About the May 9 mayhem, he said a deep conspiracy was hatched against the security institutions. However, now the law enforcement agencies were fully vigilant to cease any type of violence and hate speech against them.

As regards the cipher issue, he said investigations were underway. The law enforcement agencies (LEAs) had arrested some people to further probe the matter.

Sarfraz Bugti said they had zero-tolerance against violent material, and hate speech against the state institutions. No one would be allowed to create violence anywhere in the country, he added.

To a question, he said it had been decided in the meeting of Council of Common Interest (CCI) that the general elections would be held after accomplishing the task of census and delimitation. The delimitation process would take some three to four months, he said adding that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would announce the date for next polls.

The caretaker government would provide all necessary assistance to the ECP to hold free and fair elections, he said.

To a question about the unsuccessful operation against the criminals of Kacha area, he said there was a need to purge the police force of politics so that it could perform its mandated job.