Rangers’ special powers likely to be extended today

Home department will forward summary for extension to CM

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: The Sindh government is likely to extend for a longer period the special powers granted to the Rangers which allow the paramilitary force to conduct raids and detain and interrogate suspects for up to 120 days in Karachi.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had on August 8 extended the period by four months just hours before it was set to expire. The duration of the special policing powers, which have to be sanctioned by the provincial government every few months, is now set to expire again on Tuesday night. Once cleared by the chief minister, the summary for extension will be forwarded to the federal government for approval under the Anti-Terrorism Act.





Talking to The Express Tribune, Sindh government officials confirmed that the process for extension of Rangers’ special powers has been started.

“We have no intention to discontinue the Rangers’ special powers,” Sindh chief minister’s adviser Waqar Mehdi told The Express Tribune as well. “Any reports suggesting that we will not extend the Rangers’ powers in Karachi are untrue,” he stressed. Mehdi added that the Sindh home department will be handing over the summary for extension to the chief minister for approval very soon.



Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters in Islamabad that the Rangers will be withdrawn from Karachi if the Sindh government did not send a requisition for the extension of special powers.“Rangers will not be left in Karachi without legal protection,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.