Post-op estimates: Police rack up Rs16m bill but barely make a dent in Lyari
The neighbourhood’s infrastructure, police stations and its equipment were badly damaged.
KARACHI:
It cost about 16 million rupees over eight days but according to some observers, its results flirted with 0.
As the police recoup and the gangsters restock, initial estimates of the Lyari operation are being cobbled together.
In the eight-day operation, a total 26 people were killed and 150 people were injured. The police lost Civil Lines SHO Fawad Khan and four other policemen and 28 others were injured. Some 150 men were injured.
Up to 1,400 men fought from several law-enforcement units. They used six of the police’s armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and five APC tanks with scores of mobile units. All of the APCs were damaged by rockets and grenades and three were badly affected.
One of them was carrying SHO Fawad Khan who was killed. This one is still standing in Lyari and the police have yet to retrieve it from the gangsters’ hold. An APC costs at least Rs10 million.
Police claimed that they have killed 11 alleged gangsters, including Tariq aka Siyapa, Naeem aka Lahoti and Mullah Sohail, but have yet to prove this. About two dozen suspects have been arrested, but this includes men who were rounded up before the operation.
The police claim to have seized two launchers, six rockets, 44 grenades, 34 Kalashnikovs, three light machine guns (LMGs), three G-3s, eight repeater guns, nine rifles, 16 TT pistols, 10 9mm pistols and over 600 pieces of ammunition.
The police mostly used G-3 rifles and SMGs and fired about 75,000 bullets in eight days at three points in Lyari. Each SMG bullet costs Rs45 and a G-3 bullet costs Rs110.
While the food cost was about Rs1.6m for eight days because biryani, qorma, tandoori roti, juice, tea, water were sent for 1,000 or more men.
According to one estimate, the daily expenses came to Rs2 million. But in addition to this, there is the cost of the damage to vehicles and infrastructure. The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) says that 20 pole-mounted transformers (PMTs) in Lyari were completely damaged. “The loss runs in to millions of rupees. Each PMT costs between Rs500,000 and Rs1.5 million, depending on the size. The wires, feeders and whole infrastructure is affected,” said spokesman Aminur Rahman. KESC has 180,000 customers in Lyari. Out of these at least 18,000 had to face prolonged power outages when criminals fired at PMTs and damaged them. KESC has replaced six of the damaged PMTs and another six will be replaced by Saturday night.
According to an estimate, the gangsters lobbed over 500 grenades, including Awans, and fired over 100 rockets, including RPG-7s and mini rockets. Most of the grenades and rockets misfired but a few damaged the body and infrastructure of police mobiles, APCs, APC tanks, electricity PMTs and police stations. The Kalri, Baghdadi, Kalakot, Chakiwara, Napier and Pak Colony police stations will need repairs.
Some uninvolved people and policemen, including SHO Fawad Khan, PC Malik Tasawar, died in the rocket and grenade attacks and about one-fifth of over 150 persons were injured from them.
South Zone SSP Nasir Aftab who, in collaboration with AEC chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, was leading the operation, told The Express Tribune that it would continue with more manpower and a better strategy.
“Definitely, not just the police but the gangsters also took a hit but they are hiding it,” he said. “They think they’ll fire two shots and the police will scamper off? But now they will see that we aren’t the types to run off.” He acknowledged that the police could not kill or arrest all the gangsters in one go, but the force had not backed down either.
“We are in the middle of reinforcements and when we go in again they will not be able to retaliate as they did because they’ve used up a lot of their ammunition.”
According to SSP Aftab’s estimates, the operation will cost millions of rupees because the police fired a minimum of 50,000 bullets.
Rangers have started patrolling Lyari and snap checking at entry and exit points. Rangers Sacchal Wing Commander Brig. Waseem Ayub told The Express Tribune that this was just routine. To a query, he said that the Rangers would launch an operation independently or with the police but all of this depended on the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2012.
It cost about 16 million rupees over eight days but according to some observers, its results flirted with 0.
As the police recoup and the gangsters restock, initial estimates of the Lyari operation are being cobbled together.
In the eight-day operation, a total 26 people were killed and 150 people were injured. The police lost Civil Lines SHO Fawad Khan and four other policemen and 28 others were injured. Some 150 men were injured.
Up to 1,400 men fought from several law-enforcement units. They used six of the police’s armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and five APC tanks with scores of mobile units. All of the APCs were damaged by rockets and grenades and three were badly affected.
One of them was carrying SHO Fawad Khan who was killed. This one is still standing in Lyari and the police have yet to retrieve it from the gangsters’ hold. An APC costs at least Rs10 million.
Police claimed that they have killed 11 alleged gangsters, including Tariq aka Siyapa, Naeem aka Lahoti and Mullah Sohail, but have yet to prove this. About two dozen suspects have been arrested, but this includes men who were rounded up before the operation.
The police claim to have seized two launchers, six rockets, 44 grenades, 34 Kalashnikovs, three light machine guns (LMGs), three G-3s, eight repeater guns, nine rifles, 16 TT pistols, 10 9mm pistols and over 600 pieces of ammunition.
The police mostly used G-3 rifles and SMGs and fired about 75,000 bullets in eight days at three points in Lyari. Each SMG bullet costs Rs45 and a G-3 bullet costs Rs110.
While the food cost was about Rs1.6m for eight days because biryani, qorma, tandoori roti, juice, tea, water were sent for 1,000 or more men.
According to one estimate, the daily expenses came to Rs2 million. But in addition to this, there is the cost of the damage to vehicles and infrastructure. The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) says that 20 pole-mounted transformers (PMTs) in Lyari were completely damaged. “The loss runs in to millions of rupees. Each PMT costs between Rs500,000 and Rs1.5 million, depending on the size. The wires, feeders and whole infrastructure is affected,” said spokesman Aminur Rahman. KESC has 180,000 customers in Lyari. Out of these at least 18,000 had to face prolonged power outages when criminals fired at PMTs and damaged them. KESC has replaced six of the damaged PMTs and another six will be replaced by Saturday night.
According to an estimate, the gangsters lobbed over 500 grenades, including Awans, and fired over 100 rockets, including RPG-7s and mini rockets. Most of the grenades and rockets misfired but a few damaged the body and infrastructure of police mobiles, APCs, APC tanks, electricity PMTs and police stations. The Kalri, Baghdadi, Kalakot, Chakiwara, Napier and Pak Colony police stations will need repairs.
Some uninvolved people and policemen, including SHO Fawad Khan, PC Malik Tasawar, died in the rocket and grenade attacks and about one-fifth of over 150 persons were injured from them.
South Zone SSP Nasir Aftab who, in collaboration with AEC chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, was leading the operation, told The Express Tribune that it would continue with more manpower and a better strategy.
“Definitely, not just the police but the gangsters also took a hit but they are hiding it,” he said. “They think they’ll fire two shots and the police will scamper off? But now they will see that we aren’t the types to run off.” He acknowledged that the police could not kill or arrest all the gangsters in one go, but the force had not backed down either.
“We are in the middle of reinforcements and when we go in again they will not be able to retaliate as they did because they’ve used up a lot of their ammunition.”
According to SSP Aftab’s estimates, the operation will cost millions of rupees because the police fired a minimum of 50,000 bullets.
Rangers have started patrolling Lyari and snap checking at entry and exit points. Rangers Sacchal Wing Commander Brig. Waseem Ayub told The Express Tribune that this was just routine. To a query, he said that the Rangers would launch an operation independently or with the police but all of this depended on the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2012.