Police sees Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) responsible for a permanent volatility in Lyari Town while the residents accuse the law enforcement agencies of playing havoc with their lives.
Further, talks of a "door to door grand operation" also kept floating in the air on the official and unofficial level on Tuesday, a day after a daylong gunfight between police and armed men that killed at least six people, including two policemen, two dacoits and two civilians and over 50 injured.
According to police BLA is involved in all sorts of crimes taking place in one of the city's most volatile towns, where the criminals posses highly sophisticated weapons, besides the support of their accomplices based in areas, like Lasbela, Hub, Golimar and Malir, etc.
"During the fighting the criminals used highly sophisticated weapons, such as rocket launchers, Aewan pistols, hand grenades and the American rifles, M-16, the cost of which ranges from Rs 1.2 to 1.5 million each... which they transfer through the veil-clad women," SSP Khadim Hussain, Town Police Officer Lyari, told Business Recorder in his office.
The TPO viewed that no ordinary criminals could arrange such an advanced arms and ammunitions without support of a powerful supporter like BLA. Hussain said at least seven criminals, Hafeez Dada, Naved, Babar Punjabi, Akbar Bengali, Suhail, Umar and Farhan, were arrested during raids on at least two hideouts during the Monday violence, which he said was "normal policing" and not an operation, as widely-perceived by the people, especially the media.
Quoting unofficial sources, he said at least 20 to 25 criminals were injured during the gunbattle with police and were covertly transferred for treatment to private dispensaries in Hub Chowki. "When we would go for an operation we would call a press conference and that would focus on door to door raiding," the TPO said.
However, earlier the TPO told an 11-member delegation of union councillors, led by Lyari Town Nazim Mehmood Hashim, the police was determined to cleanse the impoverished neighbourhood from criminal elements. Talking to Business Recorder, the Town Nazim called upon police to avoid collateral damage and also operate in "other areas", which he said were well-known to the law enforcers, of the city to root out criminals.
"Such incidents are badly tarnishing the image of Lyari and the development projects of over Rs 3 billion are being nullified," he said. Whether the police go for an operation or not it is for sure that the Sindh Home Department is all set to establish its writ in the violence-hit locality through enhancing patrolling and the number of police personnel.
"Besides arms and ammunition we have asked the higher authorities for more police force, at least 300 Jawans, for a permanent deployment in the area... besides selecting certain rooftops for picketing," said the TPO. According to Hussain some 260 personnel of Special Police Group (SPG) had taken part in the Monday's gunbattle.
On the other hand, dozens of supporters of Abdul Rehman Baloch protested in front of Kalakot Police Station and demanded removal of Sarwar Commando, Supervisory Police Officer, who, according to the enraged protestors, was dividing the people of Lyari ethnically at the behest of MQM. "Sarwar Commando is the B-Team of MQM and is creating ethnic rift among Lyariites.
Our only demand is that he should immediately be removed," a protestor, who introduced himself as a general councillor of PPP, told Business Recorder. According to another protestor, Abdullah, a school teacher, the local elected representatives of PPP and MQM, including Dr Farooq Sattar, had never visited the poor town and should, therefore, not expect Lyariites to vote for them in future.
"The PPP should not expect us to vote for it if it did not support us now," he warned. The police, however, opine that the protest was for the release of key criminal, Hafeez Dada, whose mother had mobilised the area people against the police. "They wanted to get Hafeez, a criminal, released and had been brought by his mother," SPO Sarwar Commando told Business Recorder.
Brushing aside the protestors' allegations, the police officer claimed that why would he be following the agenda of MQM, which had killed several of his family members, including his brother-in-law. "I am the one who has conducted operations against MQM more than anyone else so how can I play in their hands," Commando said. Further, according to sources in Sindh Home Department the government had planned a "door to door grand operation" in Lyari to crush the armed miscreants.
The government would first increase the strength of police and would establish pickets in the troubled areas of the town and after taking control of the area, would launch a crackdown against the criminals, they added. The intelligence agencies have also supported this view saying that the law enforcement agencies had chalked out a plan to crush militants in Lyari.
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