Extortion mafia: Traders protest killing of sink plate merchant

Men entered his shop and shot him dead when he refused to pay extortion money.

KARACHI: All of the traders of Risala market in Saddar closed down their shops and protested at MA Jinnah Road against the murder of a trader by the extortion mafia. 

According to the police, armed men entered the shop of 60-year-old Mohammad Ramzan, a sink plate merchant, at around 11:30 am and demanded money. They shot him dead and fled when he refused.  Following the attack, the traders, led by the All Pakistan Tajir Ittehad, closed down their shops and marched towards MA Jinnah Road in protest. They staged a sit-in.

They gave the government an ultimatum of 48 hours to catch the killers.

They demanded that the police be deployed in the market and the government provide security to the traders.  According to the chairman of the All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Atiq Mir, the traders still receive phone calls for extortion money. “Ramzan was killed because he refused to pay those men,” he said.

The chairman of the steel market, Tasnim Qureshi, said that Ramzan’s shop was right next to the gate of Risala police station.

“This incident reflects the inefficiency of the police.”  The rally blocked traffic at MA Jinnah Road and Light House.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2011.