Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is facing what officials at Sindh home department said a "mega scale" terror attack from an Afghanistan-based militant group. While security has been "extra" tightened at the country's largest bourse, the "threat alert" also has rung alarm bells at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the backyard of which is adjacent to the KSE premises.
KSE building, a regulator business place for thousands of employees, traders and other visitors, is located at the so-called Pakistani Wall Street I.I Chundrigar Road near Merewether Tower. Pakistan's largest Exchange of over Rs 7 trillion listed capital is soon bound to become Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). "It has been reported that a leader of Jamat-ul-Ahrar namely 'Mufti' is planning to send 8 to 10 terrorists from Afghanistan to Karachi," reads Letter No INCH(CMC)HD/1-4/2015 the home department wrote to Pakistan Rangers and IG Sindh police on December 3.
The terrorists, according to Syed Naziruddin Shah Rashdi, in-charge crime monitoring cell at the department, were planning to carry out a "mega scale attack" on KSE. Given the serious nature of security threat, Rashdi requested the law enforcement agencies, Sindh Rangers and police, to take "necessary action into the matter". The steps suggested by the provincial official included extensive vigilance and stringent security measures be taken by all concerned "to ward off any untoward incident".
The risk-averse investors also have "concerns" over what Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the "ongoing security threat alerts at KSE". Despite that the KSE-100 index gained 0.58 percent to close at 33,211.92 Thursday. While officials at the KSE and SBP tend to hush the sensitive matter up, the spokesmen for Sindh Rangers and city police, who were alerted to the terrorist threat, expressed their ignorance to any such alert coming from home department.
"It may have (been communicated to us) but is not in my knowledge," replied Major Sibtain of Rangers. The paramilitary trooper sought some time to check with the concerned but reverted not till the filing of this report. Spokesman Karachi police Qamar Zaib Satti passed the buck to IG Sindh office, the receiver of "terror alert". A well-placed source at KSE, however, said KSE and SBP managements had taken the threat "seriously". "Our security is inter-linked and so are we closely coordinating with each other," he said.
At KSE, the source said, security measures had been made "extra tight". "Each and every person and vehicle coming in is being closely checking," he said. Seemingly, the KSE management has full confidence in its watertight security measures and is therefore holding a press briefing on PSX, expected to be launched by PM Nawaz Sharif on January 15 next year.