The body of one of the Rangers personnel, who lost his life when a truck of the paramilitary force came under a bomb attack on Wednesday night, being kept at the mortuary of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.—Online

KARACHI: Unlike the usual chaotic scenes of frantic family members eagerly waiting for word about their wounded relatives or running around looking for them among the dead after a blast or any other incident involving several victims, the atmosphere at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s emergency, where eight Pakistan Rangers personnel were brought after the attack, was rather calm on Wednesday evening.

There were no family members of the wounded or dead men around as almost all of them hailed from Punjab or some other city in Sindh. Their colleagues, some in plain clothes, stood aside with solemn expressions.

Almost half an hour after six men were rushed to the JPMC, two more ambulances brought in two other victims. “There was so much traffic on the way here that some of the ambulances were slowed down,” said a Rangers hawaldar, who refused to disclose his name.

About what happened, he said that the wounded were in a better position to answer that question. He had himself only rushed to the spot after hearing a huge explosion at the company headquarters’ gate. “The ill-fated Pakistan Rangers vehicle, a Hino, was returning with the men after duty. We were also returning from our duty at another spot in our pickup truck but were a little behind the one which was attacked,” he said while standing outside the emergency with his pickup.

“We are aware of the threats and are well prepared, usually wearing our helmets and vests at all times. But this time the men were returning from duty and had geared down and relaxed as they reached the barrier before the headquarters gates, where the unfortunate incident occurred,” he said.

Another soldier, also standing by the same vehicle, recognised the two men brought in later as Hayat Baloch, their gatekeeper or sentry, and Naik Saheb Khan, the attacked vehicle’s driver. “They are not that badly injured and have been brought in for checkups as besides the minor injuries they are also complaining of having lost their hearing after the blast,” he said after speaking to them.

Meanwhile, the director of the emergency section at the JPMC, Dr Seemin Jamali, told the media that they had initially received six Rangers men, three of them had died before reaching hospital and had been shifted to the mortuary. “Three others are in surgery. One of them is in a critical condition,” she said. “The men who have expired are listed as Hawaldar Amanat, Sipahi Irfan Jamil and Sipahi Saifullah.”

But some 10 minutes later hospital sources said the man listed as critical, Abdul Majid, also died during surgery.

Another tall Rangers man at the hospital said that he knew some of the men well. “Hawaldar Amanat is from Sialkot, Sipahi Irfan from Chakwal and Sipahi Saifullah hails from Rahim Yar Khan. Hawaldar Amanat was one of our senior most colleagues with 32 years of service with the Pakistan Rangers,” he said. “His children are all grown up and one of his sons has also joined Rangers service. He is with Wing 44. As for the families of the others, God knows if they even know what has befallen their sole breadwinners,” he said with a lump in his throat.

Federal Minister for Interior, A Rehman Malik talks with residents of Lyari during his visits at Lyari area in Karachi on Sunday, May 06, 2012.       — Photo by PPI

KARACHI: As the 48-hour deadline given by the government to suspected gangsters in Lyari to surrender expired on Sunday evening without eliciting any response from them, the police and Rangers appeared to have no plan to launch a decisive operation in Lyari anytime soon.

While Rangers patrolled the strife-hit areas and also carried out random spot checks that they described as part of a routine exercise, a news channel quoted the police chief as hinting at plans to launch targeted operations in some localities instead of a large-scale crackdown.

The police and Frontier Constabulary personnel had withdrawn from Lyari on Friday evening after failing to achieve desired results during the weeklong operation that had left at least 36 people, including five policemen, dead and over 150 others wounded.

Following the pull-out, Interior Minister Rehman Malik had told the media that the operation had been deferred for 48 hours
only to be relaunched jointly by the police and Rangers.

But on Sunday, Sindh IG Mushtaq Shah was quoted by a private TV channel as saying that the Lyari operation was not going to resume anytime soon. “An operation will not be carried out but targeted actions will be conducted in Lyari. The decision has been taken keeping in view the inconvenience caused to the residents during the operation.”

No senior police officer was available to comment on the proposed Lyari operation though the Rangers began patrolling the areas and carried out random spot checks on vehicles.

“It’s our routine patrolling of Lyari and its nothing out of the extra-ordinary,” said Brig Waseem Ayub of the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, dispelling the impression that they were going to have any sort of engagement in Lyari.

Visit to Lyari’s outskirts

Earlier during the day, Interior Minister Rehman Malik visited the trans-Lyari areas but didn’t go deep into the Lyari proper.

He took a round of the ICI bridge on Mauripur Road, Kharadar, New Chali, Napier Road and Lea Market where he met people who complained of sufferings they had undergone in the weeklong operation. They said that if an operation had to be carried out, Rangers should be given the task.

The minister assured them that they would not face inconvenience if an operation was conducted.

When his attention was drawn by some media persons to the fact that Lea Market did not constitute the Lyari proper, he replied that he was not afraid to tour Lyari.

Meanwhile, life returned to normality in Lyari following the last week gunfights between police and gangsters.

The clashes had compelled the residents to stay indoors with little access to basic facilities, while the power supply to the strife-hit areas had remained suspended throughout the week.

The power utility maintenance teams had begun repairing damaged pole-mounted transformers on Saturday.

Video grab from footage of an unarmed Sarfaraz Shah being shot dead by Rangers personnel in Karachi. - File Photo

KARACHI, June 30: The trial of six personnel of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, and a civilian, in the cold-blooded murder case of an unarmed young man, was challenged on Thursday under the anti-terrorism act.

The case was fixed for the evidence of prosecution witnesses, but when it came up for hearing before the judge of the anti-terrorism court-I, Bashir Ahmed Khoso, the counsel for the accused filed applications under Section 23 (power to transfer cases to regular courts) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and requested the court to transfer the case to regular court.

They contented that the facts and circumstances disclosed in the FIR and a further statement of the complainant showed that it was not an act of terrorism, thus this court had no jurisdiction to try the case.

The defence lawyers further argued that the accused were the members of the civil armed forces (Pakistan Rangers) and they were on their lawful duty and there was no object to create terror, fear and insecurity.

They maintained that under the provision of Section 5 (3) of the ATA members of the armed forces performing their lawful duties and functions during their deployment were fully protected against prosecution instituted in any criminal act.

Only the cases of terrorists could be tried under the ATA, but the six accused in the present case were Rangers personnel and one was a law-abiding citizen, they maintained.

The defence lawyers alleged that the deceased had an illicit weapon and he attempted to rob Alam Zeb and his friend, and added that warning was given to the victim to remain at a distance, but he twice tried to snatch the weapon from Rangers man Shahid Zafar.

They argued that under the provision contained in Section 6, terrorism could not be determined without determination of the nature, gravity and heinousness of the alleged offence from contents of the FIR and the circumstance of the case.

The action must be resulting in striking terror or creating fear, panic, sensation, helplessness and a sense of insecurity in the people in a particular area, which squarely brought the action within the ambit of the ATA, but this action was not attracted in the present case, the counsel for the accused added.

They further contended that this court had no jurisdiction to try the present case since, they said, it did not fall within the ambit of the ATA and prayed to the court to transfer it to any court of competent jurisdiction (sessions court) for onward proceedings.

The court issued a notice to the special public prosecutor on the applications of the accused for Friday.

Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, constables Mohammad Tariq, Manthar Ali, Shahid Zafar and Afzal Khan have been charged with capturing Sarfraz Shah with the help of a private contractor, Afsar Khan. The victim was shot at by Shahid Zafar and then left to die inside the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park within the remit of the Boat Basin police station on June 8.

A case (FIR 227/11) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 36 (effect caused partly by act and partly by omission) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on the complaint of the deceased`s brother.

The widely aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven Shah, wearing black trousers and a navy shirt, pleading for his life before he was shot twice. — Photo by AFP

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday postponed the indictment of six paramilitary soldiers accused over the shock killing of an unarmed youth at a public park this month, prosecutors said.

It was the second time this week that the indictment had been delayed to allow the soldiers more time to engage lawyers.

Members of Pakistan’s Rangers paramilitary shot dead Sarfaraz Shah, 25, in Karachi on June 8 after he was accused of robbery, but his family has demanded justice, insisting he was an innocent student.

The daylight murder was filmed live by a local cameraman and subsequently broadcast round the clock on national television channels, the brutality of trained security officers in uniform shocking the country.

The six soldiers and a civilian, who accused Shah of robbery, were produced before judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso on Thursday, public prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro told reporters.

“The court gave the accused a last chance” to hire lawyers and adjourned the proceedings until Friday, he said. If they do not find lawyers, the court will assign them legal aid, he quoted the judge as telling the accused.

The indictment was previously adjourned on Wednesday for the same reason.

Faced with a media tirade over the killing, the government took the rare step of removing the chiefs of police and Rangers in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.

The widely aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven Shah, wearing black trousers and a navy shirt, pleading for his life before he was shot twice.

He then begged for help while the soldiers appeared to do nothing but watch him fall slowly and lapse into unconsciousness.

Video grab from footage of shooting to death by Rangers men of a young man in Karachi.

ISLAMABAD: The interior minister asked the Frontier Constabulary on Friday to provide security to two media personnel receiving threats for preparing and distributing footage of the shooting to death by Rangers men of a young man in Karachi.

Orders from Interior Minister Rehman A. Malik came in the Senate minutes after Chairman Farooq H. Naek directed authorities concerned to protect life and property of Abdul Salam Soomro and Zahid Khokhar of Awaz TV.

Jamal Tarkai — a Quetta-based journalist who had produced before a judicial tribunal the footage of an incident involving murder of five foreigners by police and Frontier Corps personnel near Quetta last month — has also been provided security.

Mr Soomro and Mr Khokhar were present in the Parliament House on Friday. Sources said that Mr Malik had also assigned one
of the security guards performing duty with him to remain with the two journalists for their security.

The Senate chairman, in his unusual ruling, also called for tracing and arresting those making threatening calls to three media personnel and directed that a report be submitted before the house by June 17.

The issue was raised in the house by PPP Secretary General Senator Jehangir Badr after journalists staged a token walkout from press galleries of both houses to protest against the harassment of three media persons.

Jehangir Badr, who met leaders of journalist community in the press gallery along with Federal Health Minister Riaz Pirzada after the walkout, informed the house that the three media men had been receiving life threatening calls from unknown numbers.

“The country cannot move forward if journalists were not given protection to freely discharge their professional duties,” Mr Naek said.

Even before the chairman’s ruling and walkout by press, the Karachi incident dominated proceedings, with Senators belonging to different political parties demanding immediate steps to investigate the incident and to ensure security to media team which captured footage of the crime.

Speaking on a point of order raised by Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, former federal Minister Senator Raza Rabbani said that Rangers had violated fundamental human rights. He said the shameful act of brutally killing an unarmed young man was a violation of Articles 9, 10 and 14 of the Constitution.

He said such incidents were earlier being reported from Balochistan and now they were happening in Sindh. He termed the statement of interior minister unjustified saying that no law allowed killing of a man when the accused was unarmed and surrounded by six security officials who could easily arrest him.

He also demanded protection to the cameraman of a private television channel who had captured the video footage of the incident.

Senator Nayyar Bokhari called for security of the media team who was receiving threats.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari said that no action had been taken against those responsible for the Kharotabad incident and because of such incidents were taking place in other parts of the country.

He said five to six unidentified and mutilated bodies were being found in Balochistan every day, adding that such incidents must be taken seriously.

Another issue which was discussed in Senate was controversy over appointment of the Leader of Opposition in Senate with both PML-N and JUI-F accusing each other of vitiating the atmosphere of the house.

Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq asked the Senate chairman to suspend the notification of appointing Abdul Ghafoor Haideri as the Leader of the Opposition if he wanted to re-visit the decision.

Ishaq Dar, the PML-N nominee for the office of Leader of Opposition in Senate, said nobody would be allowed to blackmail
others in the name of national interest.

He said that tehsil council level politics had been introduced in Senate where he alleged mala fide decisions were being taken
Later, Senate chairman Farooq H. Naek convened a meeting in his chambers to resolve the issue, which remained
inconclusive.

Informed sources told Dawn that the PML-N repeated its demand for suspension or withdrawal of an earlier notification, but Mr Naek said he could not pronounce a judgment before hearing took place. The sources said that a discussion on the controversy would start on Monday.

The meeting was attended by Raja Zafarul Haq, Ishaq Dar, Pervez Rasheed (PML-N), Haroon Akhtar and Ghaffar Qureshi (PML Likeminded), Azam Swati, Maulana Shirani, Maulana Gul Naseeb, Ghulam Ali and Talha Mehmood (JUI-F) and Leader of the
House in Senate Nayyar Bokhari.

There were calls in both the National Assembly and the Senate across party lines for security agencies to behave and for severe action against the guilty. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: After their two questionable deadly shootings in 23 days, paramilitary law-enforcers came under fire in an outraged parliament on Thursday, prompting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to promise a personal oversight of a probe into the latest killing of a young man in Karachi on Wednesday.

There were calls in both the National Assembly and the Senate across party lines for security agencies to behave and for severe action against the guilty after lawmakers interrupted budget debates to protest at the Karachi killing whose television footage showed a member of the Rangers force twice shooting a man pleading for mercy, though the force said it was an armed bandit who was gunned down in an “encounter” at a park.

Speaking briefly in the National Assembly, the prime minister described the Karachi incident as “a matter of concern for the whole nation” as he tried to calm tempers of members, who also recalled the May 17 killing of five Chechens, including three women, by paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) and police at Kharotabad, outside Quetta.

“I will look into it at personal level, and the culprits will be brought to justice,” Mr Gilani said about the Wednesday evening shooting, suggesting the matter would not be left to the Sindh provincial government or his own interior ministry in view of the intensity of the outcry over the role of security agencies.

But the prime minister was unhappy over what he called “abusive language” used by a member of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, about the armed forces’ personnel and got those words expunged from the record of the proceedings by Speaker Fehmida Mirza.

This sparked more anger from the hawkish lawmaker from Lahore, before a senior PML-N figure, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, made a polite but rhetorical speech, which also criticised the role of the armed forces in former East Pakistan before the December 1971 surrender and in Balochistan and finally telling them: “You will have to surrender before the nation.”

The issue was first raised by members of the government-allied Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the simultaneous sittings of
the two houses of parliament and was later picked up by those of other parties, including the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, its new ally Pakistan Muslim League-Q and opposition Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F.

The speaker too called the Karachi killing a ‘brutal’ and ‘condemnable act’, which she said the government must inquire into, after MQM’s Abdul Qadir Khanzada drew the attention of the house to the incident and appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari and the prime minister to order an inquiry.

PPP’s Fakhr-un-Nisa Khokhar called it an extra-judicial killing, which she said was murder.

It was after a PML-N token walkout against what one of its member, Abdul Qadir Baloch, called ‘sabotage’ of a planned trip by his party chief Nawaz Sharif to Balochistan by delaying a PIA flight to Quetta on Wednesday and a couple of speeches in the budget debate that PML-N’s Mr Rafiq came with his noisy outburst against what he called ‘riasati badmash’ (state scoundrels) – besides some other descriptions that were expunged – and demanded trial of the shooters by an anti-terrorism court and resignation by the army general heading the Rangers.

Mr Hashmi said nobody was blaming institutions “but individuals who ruin institutions” and asked: “Who will save these institutions? Our shoulders have worn out giving support to these institutions.”

PML-Q’s Minister of State for Labour and Manpower Sheikh Waqas Akram said the man found responsible for the Karachi killing should be punished with “similar shooting on a Karachi square”, as did JUI’s Maulana Atatur Rehman in speech later.

PPP’s Samsam Ali Shah Bokhari called the killing “a matter of shame for whole of Pakistan” but said it should not be used to create a “divide” and expressed the hope that speedy justice would be done.

PPP’s Farahnaz Ispahani said a human rights sub-committee of the house had decided to go to Balochistan to investigate the May 17 shooting because of its lack of faith in the probe being done there.

A PPP member from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Syed Akhonzada Chittan, said Fata was witnessing similar deaths of innocent people in US drone attacks but they were not receiving similar attention.

In the Senate, after MQM’s Tahir Mashhadi spoke about the incident, in which he said while one Rangers jawan shot dead an unarmed man, two colleagues stood by casually, PPP stalwart Raza Rabbani demanded an explanation from the interior minister as he also condemned what he called a ‘free hand’ given to FC in Balochistan and “killing of Balochs in the name of security”.

Another senior PPP senator, Lashkari Raisani, JUI-F’s Azam Swati, Maulana Gul Naseeb and Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, PML-Q’s Rehana Yahya and PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq all condemned the Karachi incident.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari called Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the presidency with a preliminary report on the Karachi incident.

“The president called the interior minister and it is expected that he will meet Mr Zardari late on Thursday night,” said President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

The president expressed shock and grief over the incident and asked for an immediate report in the matter.

The spokesman quoted the president as saying: “The matter will be investigated and the law will take its course.”

Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif demanded of the government to hold a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Sources in the interior ministry said that the incident took place because the government had given ‘shoot-at-sight’ powers to the Rangers.

It has been learnt that Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had approved a summary for a three-month extension in Rangers’ powers to curb target killings and other crimes in Karachi.

Federal Minister for Interior Senator A Rehman Malik talking to DG Rangers Sindh Maj General Chaudhry Ejaz and IG Sindh Fayyaz Leghari during a meeting at Rangers Headquarters on Thursday. – Online Photo

KARACHI: More than 24 hours after a video footage showed Rangers personnel shooting to death from point-blank range an unarmed young man in Karachi, efforts made on Thursday to bring the perpetrators to justice appeared to be poorly coordinated, with the federal interior minister announcing the setting up of a joint investigation team, the chief of the paramilitary force declaring that an in-house inquiry board would be established and the police investigators still waiting for senior’s permission to initiate a process for determining the facts of the case.

The accused personnel, Rangers DG Major General Ejaz Chaudary said, had already been arrested by the paramilitary force after the video footage went on air and they would face an inquiry board headed by a brigadier.

“We have arrested all the six suspects, who were in the mobile deputed outside the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Park,” he told a group of media personnel. “In this particular incident, there was sheer negligence on the part of the Rangers officials. I would also tell you to get our inquiry completed. Once it’s over, every fact would be shared with you and people.”

He said the Rangers had the responsibility of maintaining peace in the city and they play their role in the line of their duty and opened fire only in self-defence.

“There is a negligence in this particular case and let me assure you that anyone found involved in our inquiry would face action in line with the defined laws,” he added.

For many, the video left no margin for investigation, rather questioning of the suspects for the motive behind the firing. Even to the adviser to prime minister on human rights, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, it was an ‘open and shut case’.

“I don’t think that there would be any need for such a lengthy investigation into the incident after the footages came on record,” he told reporters after meeting the family of Sarfaraz Shah, the victim of Rangers’ shooting.

The video aired on local news channels showed a man in civilian clothes holding Sarfaraz by his hair and kicking him towards a group of about half a dozen Rangers personnel. A soldier pointed his rifle at Shah’s neck and the latter pleaded for mercy.

“I am helpless,” he could be heard in the video.

The men surrounded Shah and as he moved towards one with his arms outstretched, he was pushed back and shot twice in the hand and leg. A longer version of the video posted on YouTube and social networking websites showed Sarfaraz lying on the ground, screaming and requesting the Rangers to take him to hospital.

The facts exposed by the video, however, failed to convince the authorities to make coordinated efforts to ensure justice and satisfy millions of citizens who watched the video, and thereby help the armed and paramilitary forces facing severe criticism after the Abbottabad raid, Kharotabad incident and the deadly attack on PNS Mehran, avoid another controversy.

“The probe into the matter will ensure transparency and the findings of the JIT will be made public and investigation will be done in a transparent manner,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik while talking to newsmen after presiding over a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House to review the city’s law and order. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the Rangers DG, Sindh IG Fayyaz Leghari and representatives of intelligence agencies attended the meeting.

He said there was no doubt about the video clips and it was ‘totally an injustice’ on the part of the Rangers personnel. He said the law would take its own course. The minister, however, did not explain why the investigation process had been launched by different institutions separately whereas the main investigative organisation – city police – in such cases remained directionless.

“Since the Sindh Rangers is a paramilitary institution, there is some internal process or inquiry going on,” said DIG Investigation Iftikhar Tarar. “The suspects have not yet been handed over to police by the Rangers. It may hardly take a week and then they will be handed over to police for further investigations. By the time, we will gather more evidences and facts related to the case.”

Cameraman receives threat:

A cameraman who recorded the shooting to death of an unarmed youngster by Rangers personnel received threats on Thursday from unknown callers, according to the organisation he works for and media houses and journalist bodies.

The cameraman of Awaz TV, a Sindhi news and entertainment channel, started receiving threatening calls on Thursday morning after the footage he had recorded was broadcast by almost all news channels.

“We informed Interior Minister Rehman Malik and officials of the Sindh government about the threat. Despite assurances about security given by them no measure has been taken to protect his life,” said Zaryab Khaskheli, the assistant news director of Awaz TV.

He said the cameraman had done his duty and not violated any rule or law.

The situation also set alarm bells ringing in media organisations and journalist bodies which criticised the increasing threat faced by people gathering and disseminating news.

Video grab from footage of the firing incident in Karachi.

KARACHI: Authorities are investigating a video that appears to show paramilitary forces shooting to death an unarmed young man in Karachi, officials said Thursday.

The video aired repeatedly on TV.

A spokesman for the paramilitary Rangers claimed its forces detained 25-year-old Sarfaraz Shah because he was attempting to rob people in a park in Karachi on Wednesday. He said a gun was recovered from Shah and he was shot because he was reaching for a Ranger’s rifle.

Shah’s brother, Salik, a local crime reporter, denied his brother was a robber and accused the Rangers of shooting an innocent person.

”It seems to be a case of routine high-handedness of the Rangers,” Salik Shah said. ”They misuse their powers by shooting on sight.”

The video aired on local television shows a man in civilian clothes holding Sarfaraz Shah by his hair and kicking him toward a group of five Rangers. One Ranger points his rifle at Shah’s neck as he appears to plead with them. As Shah moves toward a Ranger with his arms outstretched, he is shot and falls to the ground.

The Rangers’ spokesman said he was shot in the leg and eventually died.

Both the Rangers and the police said Thursday that they will investigate the incident.

Last month, security forces shot and killed five foreigners at a checkpoint near Quetta. Officials initially claimed the five were suicide bombers, but they turned out to be unarmed and video of the shooting further undercut their claim. The government has since launched an inquiry into the shootings.