No need to requisition Rangers afresh in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: No fresh notification for requisitioning Rangers to conduct intelligence based operation (IBOs) in Punjab would be issued as it isn’t required.

The services of Rangers are already placed on the disposal of the provincial government on its request and Army troops are also available to the Punjab government under Article-245 of the Constitution.

Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan issued orders for initiation of IBOs in the Punjab on the night of Sunday last at 1:30 when Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park Lahore blast took place, a source of Ministry of Interior here revealed Saturday evening.

The sources, in a chat with ‘The News,’ said that the actions in Punjab were producing remarkable results and they would go a long way in the war against terrorism. The Punjab administration had no hesitation with regard to the actions as it had been proactively following the National Acton Plan (NAP).

The sources said that the law enforcement agencies had worked out most of the Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) for execution the operations including its prior information and reporting in the wake of action. The echelon of reporting of the both has also been agreed. The media would be briefed about the actions on need basis.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who gave approval for the whole working would be regularly posted about the actions and achievements. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif who is extremely satisfied with the understanding and follow-up action in the aftermath of gory blast of last Sunday in Lahore earlier gave go-ahead signal for the actions.

The sources said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had a marathon meeting with General Raheel Sharif at the Army House Thursday last afternoon where the whole procedure for the actions was settled down. It is likely that General Raheel Sharif, who is embarking upon an important trip of a European country in a day, would visit Lahore to evaluate the actions in the province after returning from the foreign visit. All the stakeholders including Punjab administration is fully satisfied with the arrangements agreed upon and the sources said that no ‘irritant’ existed in the matter.

Some petty details are to be looked into further and it is expected that the same would be worked out next week.

The sources said that it was highly satisfying that the details for future course of action and mode of striking the terrorist had been worked out smoothly that had enabled collective action by the various branches of the law enforcement. The Punjab administration had extended cooperation.