Rangers, police fall back to units and stations

Following attacks, instead of being made to carry out their routine duties, law enforcers were ordered to return.

KARACHI:

Soon after the three consecutive attacks on the paramilitary force on Wednesday, the presence of the Rangers and police officials thinned in the city, especially in the sensitive areas.

Instead of carrying out their routine duties, such as patrolling and snap checking, the law enforcers returned to their stations and offices as per the instructions from their high-ups. The Rangers and police officials performing duties in Karachi had already been warned by intelligence agencies of potential threats of terrorism, especially suicide bombings at their offices, headquarters, complexes, stations and family quarters. “Right now, our men and our stations, offices and quarters are on the hit-list. We’re going to focus on protecting them till the threats are averted,” said a police officer on the condition of anonymity.

Minutes after Wednesday’s bombings, a message was also conveyed to the police by their high-ups. “We have been asked to be more vigilant and take care of ourselves,” North Nazimabad SP Muhammad Akhtar told The Express Tribune. “There are still reports of two-to-three suicide bombers roaming in the city intending to carry out major attacks.”

The Rangers officials, however, said that their men were performing their duties as per routine. Since December 2011, soon after the killing of Moeed Abdul Salam, at least a dozen blasts targeting the Rangers personnel have occurred. In 2013, 19 soldiers of the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh lost their lives in bomb attacks, encounters and targeted attacks.

Though different militant groups of banned outfits were traced, no substantial breakthrough in any of the cases has been produced before the media.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.