Sources say Rangers did not need permission of Sindh govt to continue operations in the province
ISLAMABAD: The Rangers have conducted at least 150 operations against criminals in the interior of Sindh and arrested more than 500 persons in the recent past, showing that the paramilitary force is also actively working in this region apart from the Karachi division.
“The Rangers had the same powers as they now have, when they had acted against prominent accused Asad Kharal, said to be a front-man of some powerful persons of the Sindh government, in Larkana and arrested him,” a senior source, which played the fundamental key role in drafting the two fresh notifications issued by the interior ministry two days back, extending the policing powers of the force in the Karachi division and its deployment in the whole province, explained to The News.
He said under the powers renewed for the Rangers, the force did not need permission of the Sindh government to continue its operations in the interior parts of the province. The source, which did not want to be named, noted that some striking facts needed to be underlined in the deployment notification, which was addressed to the Rangers director general. He pointed out that it was purposely stated in the proclamation that the paramilitary force would continue to discharge functions “as per law”. This, he stressed, gives sweeping powers to the Rangers to proceed against criminals in the entire Sindh province.
He emphasised that while issuing this order the federal government rejected all the conditions that were contained in the summary of the provincial administration. “Abundant stipulations have been mentioned in the recommendation of the provincial government, which were ignored while preparing the notification. Without expressly saying that we don’t accept the conditions, we unambiguously ignored them. This was not publicised to avoid any unnecessary controversy.”
The second point he underlined was that the deployment proclamation was in continuation of the interior ministry’s earlier notification of 30th July, 2015. The source claimed that even the Sindh government did not have any objection to the overall operations being conducted by the Rangers in the interior of Sindh. However, he said, it was only concerned with the actions against certain individuals whether they are proceeded against in Karachi or elsewhere in the province because it has special interest in them.
In this connection, only two examples can be cited, the source noted and said that there was a lot of hue and cry over the arrest of former Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain although it took place in Karachi where the Rangers have the special powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The second, he said, was Asad Kharal, who is close to some powerful personalities of the Sindh government.
However, the source said, the portfolio of home ministry has been taken away from Sohail Anwar Siyal, who was in the centre of the controversy over Kharal apart from the alleged involvement of his brother in the episode.
He said the change of Siyal’s portfolio in the cabinet formed by new Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah did not happen on its own. It has a specific reason, which was directly related to the Larkana incident, he claimed.
The source said the Sindh government correctly read the message and feelings of the concerned quarters about Siyal’s role in this occurrence. The chief minister has kept the home ministry apart from finance with him.