Six drug dealers killed in Dalmia police encounter

KARACHI: When drug dealers hurled a grenade at a building, they had little idea that the explosion would affect their own drug haven in Dalmia.

Members of the Kalu Current group mistakenly threw a hand grenade at the office of a sensitive law-enforcement agency while attacking members of their rival gang, Haji Aslam group.

Soon after the grenade exploded inside the office, a special team comprising Rangers and police commandos was formed and an operation launched on Sunday in which police said six drug dealers were killed.

More than 250 members of law enforcement agencies took part in the operation, which started at 5 am and continued for eight hours.

Heavy fire was exchanged between the dealers and officers, causing a complete shutdown in the town, with residents remaining in their houses and shops shuttered close.

DSP Fakhrul Islam told The Express Tribune that the operation was successful. “The head of the gang Kalu Current and his accomplices were killed,” he said.

The six deceased include Saeed Baluch alias Kalu Current, Musa, Islmail alias Khanu, Asghar Tatoo and two unidentified men.

The firing also injured some people who were passing by. These include Bashir Ahmad, Ghulam Ali and Sardar Khan.

A Rangers official, who took part in the operation, informed on condition of anonymity that around 200 people were arrested during the operation. Fifteen of these arrested men, said to be part of the drug dealing gang, have been sent to jail

What is the Kalu Current group?

Kalu Current was allegedly the right hand man of notorious Lyari gangster Gaffar Zikri.

He had been active in Dalmia for the last two years.

His gang is accused of earning money through selling drugs and then using this money to buy arms and ammunition.

The weapons are then used by criminals across the city, especially the Lyari gangs, police officials said.

According to the SHO at Aziz Bhatti police station, Safdar Mashwani, Kalu Current’s gang and the Haji Aslam group have been dealing in drugs for a long time now. Both groups are arch rivals and often engage in attacks on one another.

An operation had not been carried out earlier due to the dense population in the area and the complicated narrow lanes and streets.

The police tried to arrest these drug dealers several times but they always managed to escape among the crowds and complex structures, Mashwani said.

“An operation was the last resort,” the SHO said, adding that the gangs had made life miserable for residents in nearby localities.

However, he declined to comment on why the operation was launched against just one group.

More than 15 people have been killed in the gang war between drug dealers during the last year.

The police and Rangers have seized three official G-3 guns, three LMGs, 10 Kalashnikovs and three rocket launchers from the gang’s possession.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2010.