IG Sindh transfers nine top cops as death toll reaches 28

At least 25 people killed, scores injured.

KARACHI:

The Inspector General of Police (Sindh), Wajid Durrani transferred nine police officials of DSP rank in a bid to arrest the growing incidence of violence in the city where the death toll reached 28.

Among those transferred included DSP Imdad Ali, SDPO Al Falah, DSP Mohammad Ayub transferred and directed to report to Additional IG Karachi.

DSP Chaudhry Mohammad Ilyas, SDPO New Town. DSP Rustam Khattak, SDPO Bahadurabad. Inspector Sajjad Hyder, SDPO Memon Goth. DSP Mohammad Asif, DSP Special Branch, West. DSP Mohammad Mushtaq Khan, DSP Special Branch Central. Inspector Hasnat Waqar, DSP Special Branch South. DSP Sohail Shah, DSP Special Branch Malir. And DSP Nazir Ahmed Gujar, DSP Special Branch Sukkur.

Updated from print edition

No end to the hostility: Tit-for-tat arson, killings inflame Surjani, Orangi, Sohrab Goth


In what police say was revenge for violence in Surjani a day earlier, a group of men set over 80 motorcycles on fire in Ahsanabad Industrial Area. This added to the misery of a violent Monday when at least 25 people were killed across Karachi.

The Sohrab Goth police said that over a dozen armed men entered the factory zone, firing in the air. Frightened textile mill workers stayed inside as the men lit their parked motorcycles on fire outside. The average cost of each vehicle is Rs40,000.

There were some reports that men tried to attack the mill but the police denied this. Constable Nazar Mohammad was, however, injured. The fire fighters were unable to enter the area without protection from the police and Rangers.

Ahsanabad police post incharge Hadi Buksh told The Express Tribune the armed men were from one ethnic group and had come from Yasrab Goth and Mohammad Goth a short distance away.

There was more violence earlier in the day at Surjani, Orangi and Old Golimar where nine vehicles and five hotels were set ablaze.

In Surjani Town, including Khuda ki Basti, Yousuf Goth, Taiser Town, at least three people, identified as Naeem Niaz, Imran Hussain and Habibur Rehman, were gunned down. During clashes between two groups, over half a dozen others, including two policemen, were wounded. At least four vehicles, including two mini-buses, and at least five hotels were set on fire. This violence was coupled with intense firing.

Parts of Orangi Town were deserted after armed men kidnapped a Muttahida Qaumi Movement supporter, Kamran Hanif. Pirabad police said that his body was thrown from a moving car on Manghopir road. There was a violent reaction to this as one more person was kidnapped and killed and over 12 people were wounded during intense firing between armed groups. Two passenger coaches and a rickshaw were also set on fire.

Over 12 people were injured when unidentified men attacked several bus stops within Orangi Town with sticks and batons. Retired Major Nasir, a security officer for the National Bank of Pakistan, was injured in firing in Manghopir.

A PPP supporter, Manzoor Hussain, was killed in Mobina Town and a vehicle was torched over the incident. An elderly man, Zar Lal, 60, and his young son, Niaz Khan, were shot dead in Sharah-e-Noor Jahan. In Gulistan-e-Jauhar gunmen attacked a restaurant. A policeman posted to the Special Branch, Tariq Dad, was killed in Landhi’s Sharafi Goth area. Real estate agent Shah Kareem was killed while Rab Nawaz and his son, Shahnawaz, were wounded in an attack while loading a truck in New Karachi. Men identified as Abdul Shakoor and Asif Mohammad were shot dead in SITE and Aziz Bhatti areas, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2011.