Karachi law and order: Rangers DG blames limited powers for poor rate of success

Maj Gen Rizwan says city's three main entry points, including Super Highway, National Highway, need strict monitoring.

KARACHI:

A few hours before the Sindh cabinet sat to discuss Karachi's law and order situation, the Rangers director-general, Major General Rizwan Akhtar, expressed his own views regarding the difficulties being faced by the paramilitary force in performing their duties, particularly in investigating the suspects they arrested on a daily basis.

He was addressing media personnel after the inauguration ceremony of the new Command and Control Centre in the city. Akhtar claimed that the Rangers had been working hard to restore peace in the city for the last 18 years but had failed to make substantial progress due to their limited powers.



In August 2011, the Supreme Court, while hearing the Karachi Law and Order suo motu case, had granted additional powers to the Rangers to maintain peace in the city. Those powers, had however, been limited to papers only, he lamented.

"We could only search and arrest suspected criminals - we could not, however, detain them. The suspects eventually had to be handed over to the police," he said, adding that criminals should be punished for their actions but they could not make anyone confess to their crimes politely. "In courts, the criminals' statements during investigations have no value."

Akhtar called for improvements to the existing system in the province and maintained that, until the system was changed, peace could not prevail. "Certain people say that the army should be called in (to control Karachi's law and order situation), but whatever you do, you have to change the system first."

In his address, Akhtar listed the major problems, which in his opinion, were the major cause of lawlessness in the city. "Mismanagement of immigrants, uncontrolled urban expansion, continued patronage of land mafia, illegal hydrant business and smuggling are the main causes of unrest in Karachi," he said.

Akhtar was of the opinion that the city's three main entry points, including the Super Highway and the National Highway, needed to be monitored strictly to control the influx of criminals and weapons from outside the city. "We asked for special scanners at the city's entrance points but these requests went unheeded. We have still taken the responsibility of monitoring the Super Highway and Hub too to some extent."

He added that the Hub River, which was once a river had now turned into a stream and could be easily crossed. There were 10 check posts along the river that are vacant now, he explained. The paramilitary force had deployed personnel in the area before but they were limited to patrolling now due to financial constraints. Speaking about the land mafia and street crimes, Akhtar said that these matters were very complex and his force did not have enough manpower to get involved and efficiently solve the problem. On the other hand, a senior official of the home department explained that the Rangers had been given the authority to detain suspects for up to 90 days before producing them in court.  "After the amendment in the Anti-Terrorism Act, Rangers have the powers to detain suspects for up to 90 days. They are using these powers," he maintained.

The official added that the Rangers DG had given his suggestions to improve the law and order situation, which had been taken into consideration by the government. The official went on to refute Akhtar's statement regarding the Rangers' powerlessness, claiming that they had the authority to hold the suspect for up to 90 days.  He praised, however, the Rangers' efforts in controlling the law and order situation in collaboration with the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2014.