PPP leadership gives green signal to extension of Rangers' stay in Sindh

DUBAI: The Rangers are here to stay in Karachi. The decision came during a top Pakistan People’s Party leadership meeting held on Sunday in Dubai.

Former president and co-chairperson Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari gave approval for the long overdue decision of extension of the Rangers’ stay in Sindh, sources said.

The meeting in Dubai was jointly chaired by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-Chairman of the party and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

According to PPP sources, it was also decided in the meeting to provide special policing powers to Rangers as well.

Zardari directed the Sindh Government to approve a summary related to the extension of Rangers’ powers in Karachi immediately.

Rangers and the Sindh government are at crossroads over several cases including the arrest of former PPP minister Dr Asim Hussain who has been in the paramilitary custody for almost a year now.

However the row deepened when Asad Kharal was arrested by the paramilitary force near Hyderabad.

Muhammad Ali alias Asad Kharal, a PPP worker and alleged ‘front man’ for key figures in the Sindh provincial government, was accused of corruption worth millions of rupees.

The move was followed by CM Sindh Shah expressing dissatisfaction in a meeting with Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar over the Rangers exceeding powers in Sindh.

Since 2013, acting under powers bestowed on the paramilitary force under Article-147, the Pakistan Rangers Sindh conducted multiple targeted operations in interior Sindh during which 533 suspects were arrested. Those detained were handed over to the Police and various law enforcement agencies.