Mafia strikes back: Extortionists lob grenade at Liaquatabad shop to spread fear

Gangsters had attacked the hardware store before and were asking for Rs400,000.

KARACHI:

On Saturday at 11:15 am, five people were injured when men from what police believe is an extortionist gang left a hand grenade outside Sualeen Raja’s hardware store.

The authorities claim that this was an attempt to scare him into withdrawing a case. According to initial investigations, a man identified as Shakir, an alleged Lyari gangster, was arrested a couple of months ago for demanding Rs400,000 from Sualeen. When the store owner refused to pay up, Shakir attacked the store and shot at a young customer.

Since Shakir’s arrest, however, Sualeen and his 30-year-old son Obaid Raja have been threatened and told to pay Rs200,000. While talking to The Express Tribune, Sualeen said that even if no one believes him, he knows Shakir’s group had attacked his store. “These people want to harass us and force us to withdraw the case against Shakir,” he said. “I do not know what to do. Should I focus on work or deal with these issues?”

According to a witness, two young men wearing formal shirts and trousers arrived at the hardware shop near Daakhana Chowrangi in Liaquatabad No. 2. One of the men left a hand grenade there. A loud explosion followed his escape and left Obaid, 20-year-old Asad Aslam, 22-year-old Sohail Aziz, 35-year-old Sarfar Ghayasuddin and Mukhtiar Hussain, 27, injured. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Another witness said that the suspects went towards MA Jinnah Road. Ali, a shopkeeper, said that the suspects had a motorcycle and one of them got off and placed the grenade in front of the shop while the other waited. “The blast took place when the man started running towards his accomplice,” he said. “The one who planted the grenade fell from the force of the blast but got up immediately and escaped.”

The police, Rangers and Bomb Disposal Squad got to the scene of the crime to investigate and collect evidence. The squad said that the hand grenade was Russian and contained 65 grams of explosives. An official from the squad said that if the impact of the attack had been partially absorbed it was because of all the iron and other materials inside the store.

The attack spread panic among traders in Liaquatabad and they staged a protest against extortionists.

Communication breakdown

Extortionists have started to use this method to attack shops - with hand grenades and bullets - more and more in Karachi. The trend started in Lyari, the Old City and Saddar and has spread all over the city.

“It is difficult to work here,” said an angry shopkeeper in Liaquatabad. “The extortionists keep threatening us and when we inform the police, they don’t do anything.” He said that they only had two choices – one was to stop working and the other was to fight fire with fire.

The police suspect that Lyari’s Rehman Dakait group was behind the extortion. DSP Rustam Khattak said that the shopkeepers were responsible for encouraging the extortionists as they did not inform the police on time. “Is the police just there to be abused?” the DSP asked. “They don’t inform us about these incidents and then blame us.” To back his claim, Khattak said that they had arrested Shakir when they found out about the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2012.