Rangers in Punjab: Summary sent to centre for approval
February 20, 2017
LAHORE: Punjab Home Department submitted on Monday a summary to the federal government, requesting deployment of Rangers in Punjab for around 60 to 90 days.
The request has been made under Article 147 of the Constitution, which allows the provincial government to entrust its functions to the federation, and Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The powers to Rangers would be given under articles 7 and 10 of The [Pakistan Rangers] Ordinance, 1959, said the source.
According to Article 7, the paramilitary force “can assist the police in prevention and detection of crime in border area and reinforce the police for maintenance of law and order.”
Moreover, Article 10 allows the government to “confer or impose upon any member of the force powers or duties conferred or imposed on a police officer of any class or grade by any enactment.”
A committee, comprising officials of interior ministry, Rangers and police, will be formed to decide Rangers’ powers in the province.
According to sources, Rangers will be allowed to carry out operations in case of emergency. The raids will be carried out on the basis of intelligence reports.
The request for deployment of Rangers in Punjab comes after a series of back-to-back explosions across country including one in Lahore on February 13, in which 14 people including policemen were killed.
