Rangers get a free hand as strike paralyses Karachi
PPP rules out army deployment in violence-stricken city as eight more people were killed in last 24 hours; Sindh govt tells extortionists ‘to leave city or face action’
KARACHI - Rangers personnel besieged Lyari for an imminent operation late on Tuesday after the Sindh government gave them all police powers except the authority to register first information reports (FIRs), as the city ground to a halt following a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on a mourning day call from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
In a high-level meeting at Chief Minister’s House chaired by Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah earlier in the day, the government decided to offer extortionists the choice to leave the city or face action, and also decided to act against some 25 banned extremist outfits.
A notification issued later at night, however, warned extortionists to cease their activities or face action. The government also decided to give Rangers all police powers except the authority to register FIRs. Rangers will now be able to carry out operations anywhere and at any time, and are set to begin surgical operations in the city to root out criminals.
The only beneficiaries of the day were rickshaw and taxi drivers, who overcharged desperate customers in the absence of public transport. Fruit and vegetable markets in the city were also closed because of suspension of supply from the main market. Traders incurred over Rs 2 billion in losses, sources said, and labourers who rely on daily wages also suffered.
NO NEED FOR THE ARMY: The meeting also decided not to call in the army to Karachi and maintained that police and Rangers could handle the situation. According to an official handout, the meeting reviewed the efforts to maintain law and order, protect the lives and properties of people, and initiate effective action against criminals, terrorists and enemies of the people. The meeting issued a warning to banned organisations such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba to immediately stop their activities.
Traders have hired some 650 armed private guards to deal with extortionists, it is learnt. Usually the markets of the city remain open late into the night as Eid draws nearer, but this year things were different as customers and businessmen alike feared for their lives. Traders of the old city areas told Pakistan Today that the law enforcement agencies had failed to provide adequate security to them.
All markets of Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Digri, Jhuddo, Samaro, Tando Adam, Sanghar, Shehdadpur, Tando Allahyar and other parts of lower Sindh remained closed and traffic was non-existent between Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad and Karachi.