Industrialists want extension in policing powers for Rangers

Credit the force with controlling target killing and extortion in Karachi.

KARACHI:

Looking satisfied with the performance of Rangers, industrialists and businesspersons of Karachi have urged the government to extend policing powers of the force that are going to end on November 24.

Representatives of the business community say the Rangers have helped police effectively control target killings and now they have to focus their energies on stopping rising street crimes in the country’s financial capital.

“Rangers must continue to help the police until the latter completely overcome grave security issues,” North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) Chairman Abdul Rasheed said while talking to The Express Tribune.

“Though Rangers and police have controlled target killings, there is another concern for businesses which is the rising street crime,” he said and underscored the need for Rangers’ powers to be extended beyond November 24 to tackle other security issues.

“Everyone has noticed the dramatic decline in target killings as if nothing had happened,” he said. “Now people expect the same political will on the part of the government to control gruesome street crimes, which have become the top problem of Karachi.”

Talking to traders and industrialists at a ceremony organised by the Karachi Electronics Dealers Association on Saturday, Businessmen Group Chairman Siraj Kassim Teli urged the government to extend policing powers of Rangers by at least nine months.

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) also issued a press release on Saturday, asking the government not to take back special powers of Rangers for at least one year. Talking to The Express Tribune, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Chairman Ehtesham Uddin said Rangers had done a good job in controlling crimes, especially in industrial areas, so their powers should be extended.

The Sindh government has been extending policing powers of Rangers in Karachi for a long time. The last extension of three months was given in August this year.

The security situation in the city has improved a lot over the last two months, especially when Rangers started operations against criminals. Not only target killings had stopped, but activities of extortionists and other criminal groups had also been curbed, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2011.