Welcoming 2014: Celebratory gun shots echo despite ban on firing

Police claim that only licenced weapons were used this year.

KARACHI: The decision to close off Sea View on New Year’s Eve left most youngsters confined to their homes and neighbourhoods. This did not, however, prevent the city from echoing with gunshots as thousands of bullets were fired to welcome the New Year.

The Sindh home department imposed a ban on aerial firing, fireworks and riding bikes without silencers under Section 144. While youngsters were unable to gather on Sea View on New Year’s Eve, they still managed to violate the ban as thousands of rounds of ammunitions were shot into the night sky to mark the advent of 2014.



At least 10 people were injured in various parts of the city including Kharadar, Mithadar, Akhtar Colony, Saeedabad, Paposh Nagar, Gulbahar and Teen Hatti.

“I was on my way home from work when a stray bullet hit my arm,” one of the victims of aerial firing, Danish, told The Express Tribune. “I don’t know exactly where the bullet came from but I consider myself lucky that it did not hit me on the head.”

Slacking off?

While the city echoed with gunshots, the Karachi police was only able to make eight arrests for violating the firing ban. Four were apprehended from Sharae Noor Jahan, three from Mehmoodabad and one from Defence. “Why was I the only one to be arrested?” questioned Saqib Zeeshan who was arrested by Defence police.

“The police should show its efficiency by arresting the hundreds of others who were also firing shots into the sky.”

The high volume of aerial shots came as a surprise to many, especially considering the ongoing targeted operations and raids in the city by police and Rangers in which law enforcers claim to have apprehended more than ten thousand suspects. However, senior police officials claim that these shots were fired from licenced weapons.



“The ongoing operations are against the criminals and illegal weapons,” said DIG district West and Central Javed Odho while talking to The Express Tribune. “Licenced weapons are usually used on such occasions.

The firing on New Year’s Eve was not as intense when compared to previous years, which is evidenced by the fact that there have been no major injuries or deaths this year.”

Wrong guy

Police and Rangers also raided the house of the Board of Intermediate Education examination’s controller, Imran Chishti, in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and seized weapons. However, the weapons were later returned to Chishti after he was able to produce licences for them. “Not a single bullet was fired from my house on New Year’s Eve,” said Chishti. “The law enforcers should be able to differentiate between criminals and law abiding citizens.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2014.