Rangers to have special powers in Karachi only, says CM

Qaim Ali Shah says all institutions must work together

SUKKUR/HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has made it clear that the special policing powers granted to the Rangers will be exclusive for Karachi and not apply to the entire province.

He was speaking to the media after chairing a law and order meeting at the Commissioner Office, Larkana on Tuesday evening.



Talking about the grant of extension in the Rangers' policing powers, he said that he alone cannot take the decision and the party leadership will be consulted before.

Shah clarified that Rangers have been given special powers for Karachi alone, adding that no powers have been given to them to act in other parts of the province.

Referring to his meeting with the Rangers director-general in Karachi recently, he said that the Rangers had demanded that [suspected criminal] Asad Kharal be handed over to them and not home minister Sohail Anwar Sial's younger brother, Tariq Sial. Talking about the episode of Kharal's attempted arrest and then 'aided' escape, the chief minister said the inquiry will reveal who crossed the limits.

He stressed that Rangers' personnel were given a mandate to work against four types of crimes in Karachi: terrorism, extortion, kidnapping and targeted killing. Without mentioning any special incident, he said that all the institutions should work within the allowed parameters.



Shah went on to deny the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or their facilitators in interior Sindh, citing that so far no big incidents have taken place in the province except for the two attacks of Shikarpur and Jacobabad.

Replying to a question about Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qadir Patel's escape from the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on Tuesday, the chief minister said that his case is in court and, therefore, he did not want to comment on it. "I have issued directions to ensure his arrest," he said.  Talking about the law and order situation in Karachi, he said that it is far better as compared to the past. He said that the police are being provided with modern arms and ammunition to enable them to counter criminals in a better way.

'Spreading anxiety'

Sindh information adviser Maula Bux Chandio, talking to the media at Sindh Agriculture University in Hyderabad on Tuesday, criticised those people who spread 'anxiety' about the Rangers' powers in the province. "The Rangers [will] continue to have the authority and that's why they are taking actions," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2016.