SITE’s businessmen have told the governor, chief minister, home minister and minister of industries that they wanted the old police force turned over, more pickets set up and much more patrolling. They were assured of complete cooperation.
“We won’t go on strike just yet,” Siraj Qassim Teli of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry told The Express Tribune. “But we will in 10 days if our demands are not met.”
The matter merited discussion in the Sindh Assembly where Law Minister Ayaz Soomro said that if industrialists wanted, the government could call in the army.
As for the victim’s family, they just want to see the killers behind bars. Waqas was the son of Sikander Mundia, who runs a private export textile factory. He was shot dead Monday night near Habib Bank Chowrangi when he was in his car with a friend from the factory, Ali.
Ali, who works as the head of the stitching department, claimed that they were good friends. “He often dropped me,” he claimed. “We had planned to go to his house to play dabbu that night.” It was too dark for him to recognise the attackers but there were four men on two motorcycles. “They first tried to intercept the car and later shot once,” he said.
However, the police did not find any empty shells at the scene. “Waqas was driving but the men did not open fire at his side,” said investigator Khalid Khan. “They fired at Ali’s side.” Phone call records are expected to yield more clues. “We will detain Ali if needed,” said the officer, adding that they needed the family’s cooperation. “They haven’t even told us if extortion was demanded or not.”
For his part, Waqas’s uncle Hanif told The Express Tribune that he had nothing to say about extortion demands. Waqas’s eldest brother Zain Mundia said that his brother did not have any enemies. The BBA student quit studying a year and a half ago and started working at their Mundia Export Textile Factory. “We left the country in 2000,” said Zain. “But within a year, we returned because we love it. If we knew that this would happen we would have never returned.”
SITE’s biggest problem is that the criminals use the names of political parties to demand extortion.
According to Teli, these names are the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Peoples Party and Awami National Party. But their leaders have been quick to distance themselves. “Zulfiqar Mirza has promised us that no such incident will happen again,” the KCCI’s Teli said. But this is not the first time such promises have been made. According to a factory manager who did not want to be named, right after the Banaras fly-over was inaugurated and Zulfiqar Mirza headed to the MQM headquarters, excited people drove up to experience the new road but men closed it off from both sides and looted them.
“There are three or four points where muggings happen every day,” said the manager. They are all points where one enters or exits SITE. “One is the Habib Chowrangi, then further up and to the left near the [soft drink] factory, and further at ‘Saifullah’s’ drug and liquor den. The other spot is at Shershah.”
According to him, one textile factory owner was held up about four times in 20 days.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2011.
COMMENTS (13)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ