Acting President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) M Jawed Bilwani has urged Sindh Home Minister Dr Zalfiqar Ali Mirza to direct concern police officials to launch vigorous action on war footing to exterminate the illegal activities of extortion of money from the traders and businessmen in the Old Town Market area (Mithadar) and New Sabzi Mandi.
In a letter to the minister, he invited minister's attention toward a serious problem greatly affecting the traders and businessmen in the Old Town Market area and New Sabzi Mandi in the form of extortion of money by unscrupulous criminals with threat to kill or kidnap in case of non-compliance of their illegal demands.
He said that a number of KCCI members with businesses in Mithadar and the fruit and vegetable vendors, wholesalers and brokers in New Sabzi Mandi have been complaining to the chamber that such criminals are spreading fear and harassment by distributing slips with their cell phone numbers for extortion of money (Bhatta). They also complained that they fear that they will be kidnapped in case of non-compliance to these demands.
Extortion of money buy such criminals is spreading far and wide and becoming quite common in several markets and business areas which is indeed most detrimental and damaging to our nation's commerce.
The traders and businessmen who are already immensely burdened with economic recession, rising inflation, continuous load shedding and several other adverse factors, are really fed up with such illegal demands for money by the criminals and strongly feel that there is no security or safety at all of their investments.
They fell that due to these factors it is better to either close down businesses or go abroad with their investments. Prevailing law and order situation, he said that the minister could well imagine the wrong singles being sent aboard, dissuading foreign investors to come to Pakistan with their investments. The acting president attached photocopy of slips distributed in the areas with names and cell numbers of such criminals for his perusal.