Lyari gang war: Arshad Pappu’s death speculations end with beheading video
Police round up over a dozen suspects in a three-hour-long overnight raid in parts of Lyari.
The two-minute low-quality video was uploaded on the internet and it shows a man trying to cut Pappu’s throat while the other bodies can be seen on the side. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID
KARACHI:
The speculations around the mysterious death of Lyari’s notorious gangster Arshad Pappu came to rest as an internet video showing grotesque images of his beheading was made public. The video was also submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday.
Pappu, his brother Yasir Arafat and a companion were reportedly killed in Lyari last Sunday but the police were unable to procure the bodies.
The two-minute low-quality video was uploaded on the internet a few days later and it shows a man trying to cut Pappu’s throat while the other bodies can be seen on the side. During the video, the suspects can be overheard talking to each other in Balochi.
Even though the authenticity of the video has yet to be established, the police believe it is real. Crime Investigation Department Anti-Extremist Cell SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that the video was 100 per cent authentic.
The video only shows Pappu’s beheading while the body of Pappu’s brother, Arafat was seen lying on the side, he added.
According to SSP Khan, the police are investigating the case and they believe that Pappu’s rivals - Baba Ladla, Jabbar Jhengu and Ustad Taju - were involved in his kidnapping and murder.
Nevertheless, District South police chief DIG Shahid Hayat, Lyari SP Sardar Najam Tareen and Investigations SP Salam Sheikh refused to comment on the video or on any updates in their investigations.
Meanwhile, Pappu’s family and supporters have offered his funeral prayers in absentia in Hub - the neighbourhood where he was last reported to be living.
Arrests in Lyari
Following the Supreme Court orders to arrest the men behind Pappu’s killings, the police conducted a raid in Lyari on Thursday night and rounded up over a dozen suspects. This was the first police operation in Lyari against gangsters after SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan failed to launch one in April last year.
In a three-hour-long overnight operation, the police managed to enter the neighbourhood without facing much resistance by the gangsters. The police also claimed that the operation was conducted in parts of Lyari including Aath Chowk, Phool Patti Lane, Dubai Chowk, Rangi Wara, Afshani Gali and Nawa Lane.
According to the police, they raided the gangsters’ hideouts but failed to arrest any of the hardcore gangsters, such as Baba Ladla and Jabbar Jhengu. They also conducted a raid at Dadal House, the house of the slain Rehman Dakait, from where they detained Rehman’s relative Kamran alias Kami. SHO Tasawar Ameer said that the suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location and more raids will be conducted to arrest the prime suspects.
Meanwhile, a policeman who was part of the raid told The Express Tribune that they only patrolled the outskirts of Lyari and did not even enter the gangsters’ hideout. Most of the detainees were passersby, he said, adding that the remaining suspects were those who were only present when Pappu and the others were tortured and killed.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2013.
The speculations around the mysterious death of Lyari’s notorious gangster Arshad Pappu came to rest as an internet video showing grotesque images of his beheading was made public. The video was also submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday.
Pappu, his brother Yasir Arafat and a companion were reportedly killed in Lyari last Sunday but the police were unable to procure the bodies.
The two-minute low-quality video was uploaded on the internet a few days later and it shows a man trying to cut Pappu’s throat while the other bodies can be seen on the side. During the video, the suspects can be overheard talking to each other in Balochi.
Even though the authenticity of the video has yet to be established, the police believe it is real. Crime Investigation Department Anti-Extremist Cell SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that the video was 100 per cent authentic.
The video only shows Pappu’s beheading while the body of Pappu’s brother, Arafat was seen lying on the side, he added.
According to SSP Khan, the police are investigating the case and they believe that Pappu’s rivals - Baba Ladla, Jabbar Jhengu and Ustad Taju - were involved in his kidnapping and murder.
Nevertheless, District South police chief DIG Shahid Hayat, Lyari SP Sardar Najam Tareen and Investigations SP Salam Sheikh refused to comment on the video or on any updates in their investigations.
Meanwhile, Pappu’s family and supporters have offered his funeral prayers in absentia in Hub - the neighbourhood where he was last reported to be living.
Arrests in Lyari
Following the Supreme Court orders to arrest the men behind Pappu’s killings, the police conducted a raid in Lyari on Thursday night and rounded up over a dozen suspects. This was the first police operation in Lyari against gangsters after SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan failed to launch one in April last year.
In a three-hour-long overnight operation, the police managed to enter the neighbourhood without facing much resistance by the gangsters. The police also claimed that the operation was conducted in parts of Lyari including Aath Chowk, Phool Patti Lane, Dubai Chowk, Rangi Wara, Afshani Gali and Nawa Lane.
According to the police, they raided the gangsters’ hideouts but failed to arrest any of the hardcore gangsters, such as Baba Ladla and Jabbar Jhengu. They also conducted a raid at Dadal House, the house of the slain Rehman Dakait, from where they detained Rehman’s relative Kamran alias Kami. SHO Tasawar Ameer said that the suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location and more raids will be conducted to arrest the prime suspects.
Meanwhile, a policeman who was part of the raid told The Express Tribune that they only patrolled the outskirts of Lyari and did not even enter the gangsters’ hideout. Most of the detainees were passersby, he said, adding that the remaining suspects were those who were only present when Pappu and the others were tortured and killed.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2013.