The high-profile kidnapping of a police chief in Pakistan by official paramilitary troops indicates increased unrest in a country already preparing for more protests against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Troops known as rangers stormed the home of Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, the inspector general of police in the southern province of Sindh. Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, a spokesman for opposition politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose party rules the state, told Dunya TV that the rangers forced the chief of police to sign an order to arrest another opposition leader, Safdar Awan.
While Khan’s pro-military government has yet to address the issue, Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered an investigation. A spokesperson for the prime minister was not immediately available for comment, and the rangers’ office in Karachi declined to do so.
Since the incident, Mahar has told his officers to postpone the departure until the military and state government completed investigations, Sindh police said on Twitter Tuesday night. High-ranking police officers in the province have applied for a license for being “ridiculed,” Khokhar said.
The incident comes amid the worst turmoil in Pakistan since Khan came to power some two years ago. An alliance of 11 opposition parties is holding demonstrations across the country seeking their elimination due to food shortages and inflation, and demanding that the military stop meddling in politics.
The military, which has directly ruled Pakistan for about half of its existence since 1947, has historically played a key role in shaping foreign and national security policy, but has expanded its role under the current government. The army and the judiciary cannot be publicly criticized under Pakistan’s constitution.
The rangers are headed by a military officer and operate under the Interior Ministry, according to the force’s website.
The alleged kidnapping occurred before the police arrested Awan, husband of Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is the daughter and political heir of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Awan, who was accused of raising political slogans during a visit to the grave of the nation’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, was released on bail from the Sindh High Court.
It follows the arrest of journalists and opposition leaders, some of whom have been charged with treason by the Khan government for criticizing the army.
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