Two law enforcers injured as police van drives into an ambush

They were going to arrest gangsters in Baldia Town after being tipped off by apprehended men.

KARACHI:

Two policemen were injured on Saturday when a police vehicle was shot at in Baldia Town, within the jurisdiction of the Mauripur police station.

The injured policemen were identified as Ashfaq and Ghaffar Shah. They were taken to Civil hospital, where doctors said that their conditions was stable. SHO Shafiq Tanoli, who was also travelling in the vehicle, escaped unhurt. He said that the vehicle was attacked shortly after it entered Mawach Goth, where the police were planning to apprehend some Lyari gangsters. Six suspects, who were arrested earlier in an overnight operation in the same locality, had tipped off law enforcers about the whereabouts of their accomplices.

The men arrested in the overnight raid were identified as Khalid Baloch, Abdul Kareem, Ansar, Waqar, Sajid and Babu. The police took two of the men along with them to the second raid, but had to back off after being fired at. As they were retreating, the relatives of the apprehended men as well as a number the area’s residents intercepted them on Hub River Road.

They said that the arrested men were labourers, not criminals, and demanded that the police set them free. The protesters also set tyres on fire and pelted passing vehicles with stones.

The protest got uglier when backup was called to deal with the situation. The police had to use tear gas shells and restort to aerial firing in an attempt to disperse them.

But a little after this, a number of people, most of who were young men, gathered on Hub River Road again and attacked the law enforcers with stones. A game of hide-and-seek between the police and protesters ensued for at least two hours before more backup was called to deal with the situation. Fortunately, nobody was injured during the clash between the police and the protesters.

SHO Tanoli said the arrested men and the suspects who attacked them both belong to the notorious Baba Ladla group of Lyari gangsters. A big operation would be conducted at Mawach Goth soon, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2012.