Pakistan Army removes Rangers, ISI officers involved in ‘Karachi incident’

RAWALPINDI – The Court of Inquiry formed on the orders of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has recommended the removal of Pakistan Rangers and Inter-Services Intelligence (IS) officials involved in the 'Karachi incident' for creating "an unwarranted situation that led to a misunderstanding between two state institutions," the military’s media wing said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, in a statement Tuesday, said that the inquiry pertaining to the events of October 18, following which the Sindh police chief and several senior officers of the provincial police force had sought extended leave from duty saying they had been left demoralised due to the circumstances surrounding the arrest of PML-N leader Capt Muhammad Safdar 19, has been completed.

"The Court of Inquiry has established that on the night of October 18/19, officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and the ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fallout of the desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid," the statement reads.

"They [the security officers] were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law. Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned ISI/Rangers officers decided to act, rather over-zealously," the statement added.

"They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to misunderstanding between the two state institutions," it said.

The ISPR statement said that "it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at [the Army's] General Headquarters (GHQ)."

Safdar, a retired army captain who is also the son-in-law of disgraced PM Nawaz Sharif, was taken from a hotel room, where he was staying with his wife, Maryam Nawaz. The arrest came after he visited the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who led the movement for independence from Britain in 1947 and is a revered figure in Muslim-majority Pakistan.

While at the tomb, Safdar led a crowd in chanting: "Give respect to the vote!" The slogan is viewed in Pakistan as criticism of the country´s military, which has ruled the country of 220 million people - directly or indirectly - for most of its history.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League opposition party at the time insisted Safdar was arrested only after troops abducted provincial police chief Mushtaq Mehar to pressure him to sign orders for Safdar's arrest.

Neither Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence nor the paramilitary Rangers at the time commented and it was unclear how many intelligence agents and troops were suspended.