KARACHI, Sept 14: Dozens of soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) were deployed on Wednesday in parts of Orangi Town,

including the Kati Pahari area, in what appeared to be the first sign of the federally-administered force going to exercise the powers delegated to it last month, according to a senior official.

Authorities said the areas being given under the FC ‘would increase gradually’ and in the first phase some neighborhoods around Orangi Town were chosen keeping in view their sensitivity and history of violence.

“The FC personnel have taken over the posts set up in the strife-torn areas of Orangi Town that included Qasba Colony and Kati Pahari,” said DIG (west) Imran Yaqoob Minhas. “Obviously the areas of Kati Pahari and Qasba Colony are considered to be some of the most sensitive localities and that is why FC is being deployed there in the first phase.” He said the FC soldiers were also deployed on the exit and entry points of the town under the guidelines given by the local police.

“Although the FC is governed by the federal government, it was operating in Karachi as per the local police requirements and their areas of deployment are also decided by the city police. So, the FC deployment in parts of Orangi Town is primarily sought and suggested by the police,” said the DIG.

The Sindh government last month decided to launch a ‘full-scale operation against criminals and terrorists’ and allowed FC to exercise the police powers in the city. The Rangers are already exercising the police powers that include carrying out raids and arrests.

Largely drawn from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, FC is regulated by the interior ministry and mandated to operate in any province of the country. Though a number of FC soldiers have already been deployed in the city for security of some particular individuals and facilities, fresh troops arrived here last month after the Sindh government came out with the decision to delegate it the policing powers.

“Initially 10 to 12 posts in different pockets of Orangi Town will be manned by FC soldiers, who will discharge their duties at all the entry and exit point of the town along with the area police,” said DIG Minhas.

Earlier in the morning, hundreds of Rangers personnel and police commandoes cordoned off the localities around Sohrab Goth and carried out a search operation in two residential buildings. They detained more than 50 suspects during the ‘targeted operation’, officials said, pointing out that law-enforcement agencies had launched the action after a surge in targeted killings last month in the city.

Police officials said the Sohrab Goth operation was led by the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, and assisted by the area police and police commandoes. The Rangers mainly targeted Al-Asif Square and Indus Plaza.

“The total strength of the force involved is not known but nearly 50 vehicles carrying Rangers and police personnel were employed in the operation,” said DSP Iftikhar Lodhi, the area’s sub-divisional police officer (SDPO).

“Several apartments in the two buildings and many houses in the area were searched. Drugs and arms, including assault rifles AK-47, were seized during the search.”

Though he showed his unawareness about the number of suspects detained by the Rangers during the operation, sources in the police said that some 52 people were being interrogated by the paramilitary force.

“More than 100 people were rounded up in the operation but most of them were released after initial questioning,” another official explained.