The personnel of the Pakistan Rangers-Sindh suddenly disappeared from their points of duty across the city in the wee hours of Saturday; however, the paramilitary force returned to some of their pickets in the evening, Pakistan Today has learnt. Sources said that the Rangers were removed from educational institutions and other parts of the city after the Supreme Court’s decision of removing the Rangers-Sindh Director General Maj Gen Ejaz Chaudhry. According to details, Rangers personnel deployed at 32 educational institutions of the city – including the University of Karachi (KU); the NED University of Engineering and Technology; the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST); the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology; and the DJ Science College – were missing from duty on Saturday morning and were replaced by the police.
KU Public Relations Officer Qamar Rizvi said that the varsity administration had neither asked for the Rangers personnel to be removed from their duty posts nor was the university management informed of their removal beforehand. In the absence of the Rangers, the university administration sought help from the police for providing the varsity with ample security at its entry and exit points as the semester exams are under way, Rizvi said.
Sources said that personnel of the Bhittai Wing of the Rangers were deployed outside KU and FUUAST, but their mysterious disappearance sparked panic at both the institutions and the administration of both the universities called the local police to provide the students and teachers with security. Following the requests, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town Police Officer ordered the police to immediately rush to the varsities and take over the security responsibilities until the redeployment of the Rangers. Students at KU said that even though the Rangers were absent from the entry and exit points of the varsity, the paramilitary force had not left the student’s hostel located in the premises of the university.
KU Registrar Kaleem Raza Khan said that the Rangers personnel had again assumed charge of their posts 12 hours after their disappearance, and that the police were relieved of their duties after the return of the paramilitary force.
A Rangers spokesman said that the personnel of the paramilitary force were not removed from their duty posts, and that this news was nothing more than a rumour.
He said that the Rangers were performing their duties across the city, and that there were no plans to suspend the duties of the deployed personnel of the force.
He also said that the disappearance of the Bhittai Rangers from KU and FUUAST could only be explained as a change of troops.
Fresh troops might have been replacing the exhausted ones, and that taking charge takes time every so often, but the paramilitary force would not be relieved of their duties, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that a Rangers sepoy recently shot dead an unarmed young man at the Benazir Park, which sparked a wave of revulsion in the general public against the paramilitary force and they have been facing severe condemnation from all quarters of the government since that incident.
Following that, the Supreme Court took suo motu action against the brutal murder and ordered the Sindh government to dismiss the Rangers-Sindh director general and the Sindh inspector general of police.
It is also relevant to mention here that the personnel of the Pakistan Rangers-Sindh take care of security responsibilities at 80 percent of the educational institutions across the city, whereas they utilise the facility of the hostels located in the premises of the major colleges and universities for official and residential purposes.
These facilities include the building of the Jinnah Courts, which used to be the hostel of the DJ Science College and is now being used as the Pakistan Rangers-Sindh Headquarters.
The Rangers had arrived at KU to maintain the law and order situation after three activists of the People’s Students Federation were killed in 1989. Now three wings of the Rangers – Sachal, Bhittai and Ghazi – are performing security duties across the metropolis.
