Lyari street war claims 11 lives

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Lyari remained a war zone for the second consecutive day on Saturday as law-enforcement agencies encountered fierce resistance when they launched an operation against criminal elements in the locality.

The area reverberated with gunshots and rocket fires throughout the day in which at-least 11 people, including the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Civil Lines police station and a woman were killed. As many as 30 more were reported injured.

Criminals attacked a police contingent with hand-grenades and rockets near the Cheel Chowk in Lyari.

Police said that the Cheel Chowk and the Nawa Lane areas remained the epicentre of violence.

SHO Civil Lines Fawwad Khan was killed and six other police personnel were critically injured when unknown armed men hurled rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and opened fire on them near the Cheel Chowk in the limits of the Kalakot police station.

The policemen who were injured in the grenade attack were later identified as Zamir Hussain, Amir Hussain, Iftikhar, Asif Akram Khalid, Waheed Jokhio and Mohammad Aslam.

Gun battles, raging across various streets in several parts of the locality, forced local residents to stay in their houses, while business activities remained at a standstill.

Police also claimed to have arrested as many as 20 criminals, including some ‘most-wanted’ ones.

The operation, which started early Friday, was led by SSP Muhammad Aslam Khan. Personnel of CID police and the Frontier Constabulary took part in the operation to apprehend criminals. However, law-enforcement agencies appeared to have completely failed in achieving their target as criminals freely used sophisticated weapons to deter their advance.

A man was gunned down in the Nawa Lane area. The deceased was identified as Luqman, 25.

A man named Shakil was also killed near the Gabol Park in the limits of Chakiwara police station.

Separately, another man was killed near the Shershah Bridge. He was identified as Azeem, 40.

Two men, namely Sohail and Akhtar, were killed in Afshani Gali in a police encounter.

In another incident a woman, identified as Rukhsana,40, fell prey to gunfire near the Gabol Park.

Yaseen, 45, was also gunned down in the Nayabad area near Mama Hotel.

Additional Inspector-General (AIG) Akhtar Hussain Gorchani told reporters that the operation would continue until all anti-social elements were eliminated. “I hope it will end very soon,” he added.

Highlighting security agencies’ commitment, he said that they were facing stiff resistance.

He said that although local people were fighting law-enforcement agencies, anti-state elements were behind the law and order situation in Lyari.

He said policemen were not deterred despite the deaths of one of their officers and other colleagues.

SP City Sarfraz Nawaz told Business Recorder that a fresh police party had been deployed in Layri, adding that CID officers Mazhar Maswani and Fayyaz Khan would also take part in the operation.

He vowed that law-enforcement agencies would leave no stone unturned in their mission to eradicate criminals from the Layari area.

Meanwhile, a man claiming to be the spokesperson for the defunct People’s Amn Committee (PAC) who identified himself as Zafar Baloch told this correspondent that a conspiracy was being hatched against the people of Lyari for disturbing peace in the area. He alleged that criminal elements belonging to the Gafar Zikri group had penetrated the Lyari area with the help of the CID police to deteriorate peace.