SSP Chaudhry Aslam approached Lyari like a lion but exited like a mouse.
But perhaps even the bravest of police officers would have also been forced to retreat if a rocket were fired at them. Indeed, by Monday morning an ordnance factory of ammunition was aimed at the beleaguered force as it repeatedly tried to approach the neighbourhood after rioting broke out to protest the killing of Saqib Sakhi Baloch.
It took 24 hours for all hell to break loose after the Crime Investigation Department killed Saqib, an alleged gangster and close aide to the banned Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) leader Uzair Baloch, in an encounter in Chakiwara.
On Sunday, Saqib’s family and others took to the streets in protest and attacked the Chakiwara police station with petrol bombs. The police responded with firing tear gas shells. By night time, this escalated into a shoot-out.
So far, six people, including Pakistan Peoples Party leader Hassan Soomro, have been gunned down and 30 others, including six policemen, have been injured. Allegations flew between both sides.
The Sindh government has formed an inquiry team led by DIG Shaukat Ali Shah. They are supposed to present the chief minister with a report in three days. Saqib’s family has demanded that a FIR should be registered against CID chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan and his team. The government, on its part, has tried to assure the protesters that they would carry out an inquiry to find out if Saqib was a wanted gangster. They claim, that if he wasn’t, they would register a FIR against the SSP.
However, the protesters refused to back down, and continued to burn tyres, throw stones, petrol bombs.
By the start of the week, areas beyond Lea Market became a no-go zone for the police, as whenever they went beyond a certain boundary, they were shot at. The invisible protesters knew where to shoot but the police did not.
As soon as the police found a gap to move forward, they were warned by five to six rapid gunshots fired by a man who darted in and out of a narrow lane. The police responded with aerial gunfire and some aims at buildings. This game of cat and mouse went on till 4 pm when SSP Chaudhry Aslam arrived.
As soon as they saw him, some policemen remarked that the “lion” had come. “Finally, we’ll get to see some real action,” one officer quipped.
Aslam stood proudly at Lea Market Chowk, surrounded by the police and CID men dressed for combat. But even he had to cower when two hand grenades and a rocket were hurled at him. Even he could not enter Lyari.
While talking to The Express Tribune before the attack, SSP Aslam had laughed and said that he had killed another wanted gangster from the PAC and would clear them out by Tuesday. However, after the attack he seemed to be visibly shaken.
The firing kept up at regular intervals. No one knew what was going on. The police sat outside Lyari confused. The officers did not understand what to do as they were being forced to retreat while the residents were stuck at home as the eerie staccato bounced off the walls of the buildings.
In order to throw the police off, the protesters shot at them from four different directions. After a mouthful of heavy swearing, annoyed policemen said that they had been stuck there all day and did not know where to fire. “What do we do? How do we do it?” they said. “We do know where they are shooting from or targeting us.” Since the protests started on Sunday night, the Rangers have not been involved. If they had been deployed, perhaps the situation would have been different. It is said that the residents and gangsters were afraid of them and respected them. According to SSP Aslam, he planned to deal with the protesters and gangsters himself.
Surveying the area and buildings, it was difficult to determine who was innocent and who was behind the shootings as people crowded around windows. The police shouted at them to go back but they didn’t and in order to protect them or scare them off, the police shot in their direction.
The standoff between the police and protesters conin tinued even after SSP Aslam Khan left and police commandos in six armoured personnel carriers managed to enter Lyari.
A search operation was expected to take place at night.
With additional writing by
Tooba Masood
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ