Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan has taken notice of the incident and ordered inquiry into the Rangers raid at NYT correspondent’s home.
In a statement, Nisar said “such raids and operations are unacceptable at any cost.”
According to Mr. Masood, Rangers said they wanted to search the premises but they didn’t have search warrants.
Rangers say it’s a “routine search operation” pic.twitter.com/ItZQAi7mjG
— Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
Rangers troops back,along with a senior officer. Hope they find the terrorist pic.twitter.com/ZiAk8tTFZ8 — Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
Spoke with a senior Islamabad police official. He said a “terrorist search operation underway.”
— Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
A man in civvies, with them, says he is from “intelligence” but not giving more identification. Insists on property search — Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
Rangers have shown up at my house, saying they want to search the premises but have no documents or warrants#islamabad
— Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
Rangers even searched the drawers of my study table and asked if I had any illegal weapons hidden in the house. — Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 12, 2016
He tweeted that “A man in civvies identified himself as an intelligence man but didn’t provide more information.”
The NYT correspondent said he phoned up a senior Islamabad police official who said a “terrorist search operation is underway.”
Mr. Masood is also a resident editor of local daily The Nation.
On May 13, 2013, the Pakistan government had ordered the New York Times’ bureau chief in Islamabad to leave the country on the eve of national elections. A two-sentence letter was delivered by police officers to the home of the bureau chief, Declan Walsh. “It is informed that your visa is hereby canceled in view of your undesirable activities,” the Times quoted the letter as saying. “You are therefore advised to leave the country within 72 hours.”
