KARACHI: A Rangers raid on the Defence residence of the chief of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, Ahmed Chinoy, in the early hours of Tuesday sparked quite a controversy as the CPLC chief first admitted but later denied that his house was raided.

While the paramilitary force kept mum about the whole episode, a senior police officer confirmed to Dawn that “Rangers personnel raided Mr Chinoy’s house, questioned him for a considerable period and took away some documents from his home”.

Mr Chinoy himself confirmed to private news channels that his house was raided by Rangers and it was an attempt to tarnish his image.

But in a dramatic turn of events, he changed his stance in the evening when he told a press conference that “no raid was conducted and the media was spreading disinformation based on anonymous sources”.

He, however, conceded that Rangers personnel along with Najeeb Danewala, a former CPLC official who is now running the Rangers Special Task Force against kidnapping for ransom cases, came to his home at 5.30am and asked him to visit the Rangers office.

He said the ‘visit’ was aimed at sharing information on kidnapping of a youth, Laraib, who was abducted in North Karachi on Monday evening and his family approached both the CPLC and the Rangers task force.

“He [Danewala] asked me to accompany them but I told him that since night has passed, he would talk in the morning,” he said: “I visited the Rangers office in the morning, held detailed talks with the Rangers director general for better coordination and chalked out a future line of action to this effect.”

He said that neither Laraib nor Rs1.5 was recovered from his house.

Responding to a volley of questions, Mr Chinoy said the Rangers personnel came to his home because the young man was recovered by that time and “it [the early morning visit] did not matter.”

Without naming anyone, he said a “third party” wanted to create a “conflict” between the Rangers and the CPLC. “There is full harmony between the Rangers and the CPLC.”

He was full of praise for the paramilitary force and went on to say that there was no conflict or mistrust and Rangers had performed a major role in curbing extortion and targeted killings. “The Rangers is a national institution and our role was of a supporter. There is no such thing as a lack of trust.”

He said that the kidnap victim was recovered with the efforts of the Rangers.

He said that the gang had been identified and hoped that the suspects would be arrested soon.

The media was dissatisfied with Mr Chinoy’s ‘explanation’ about the incident, and put several questions, but he stuck to his stance that no raid was conducted and Rangers personnel came for sharing information only.

He said that the CPLC was training the victim’s family as to how to deal with the ransom demand and added that the CPLC never directly negotiated with kidnappers.

He said that two DSPs of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell were also present at the CPLC along with the victim’s mother and brother to deal with the case.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2015

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