Conspiracy theories: Lyari shuts down to ‘mourn’ death of notorious gangster

Jabbar Jhengu’s comrades believe his death was pre-planned, not an accident.

KARACHI: The volatile neighbourhood of Lyari remained shut yet again on Wednesday as gangsters mourned the death of their notorious colleague, Abdul Jabbar aka Jabbar Jhengu.

Jhengu and his companion, Abdul Ghani, were killed in a road accident in the Bella area of Balochistan on Tuesday night. As the news of his death spread, armed gangsters resorted to indiscriminate firing in Lyari and its adjoining areas of Sher Shah, Mithadar, Kharadar, Mauripur and Pak Colony. As a result, all shops remained closed and residents chose to stay indoors.



Even though Jhengu’s body did not reach the neighbourhood by Wednesday, his funeral prayers were offered. A large number of police and Rangers remained deployed in the vicinity to avoid any untoward incident.

Conspiracy theories

Jhengu’s comrades claimed that they do not believe he was killed in a road accident. “Jhengu’s killing was pre-planned,” one of his associates told The Express Tribune. “ The law enforcers are behind his killing. They abducted him and then killed them in this way.”

As Jhengu’s gang mourned his death, the members of the rival group led by Noor Muhammad aka Baba Ladla and Ghaffar Zikri celebrated his killing. They also resorted indiscriminate firing in celebration. “If he did not die in the accident then he must have been killed by us,” claimed a member of the Baba Ladla gang. “Celebrating his murder is not only our right but it is the right of every person of Lyari who had been victimised by him and his gang members. He was not a human being, he was an evil.”

The firing from both sides did, however, lead to clashes in which a man died and two children were injured. DSP Murtaza Mirani said the law enforcers responded immediately and calmed down the situation.

Life of a ‘gangster’

Before becoming a gangster, Jhengu was a crane operator and a stage dancer. In 2006, he joined the gang of the slain, Rehman Baloch aka Rehman Dakait, and started selling drugs. According to insiders, Jhengu was asked not to sell drugs by members of the Ghaffar Zikri group when he entered their stronghold, Ali Muhammad Muhalla.

“Zikri and another gangster of that time, Majeed aka Majeed Speed, stripped Jhengu naked and beat him in front of the whole neighbourhood for daring to sell drugs in their area,” said a gang insider. “This was the day Jabbar became Jhengu - to avenge his insult. Before this, he was just a small drug peddler.”

Jhengi asked Rehman for a bigger position in the gang and was made the area commander for the Shah Baig Lane of Lyari. “After Zikri disappeared, shortly after the killing of Rehman Baloch in 2009, Jhengu also occupied Ali Muhammad Muhalla,” said another insider. “But he left the area when Zikri shook hands with Baba Ladla, a couple of months ago.”

Since the police started the targeted operation in September last year, Jhengu’s whereabouts were unclear.

There were reports that he was associated with Uzair Baloch and managing nearly 100 gangsters. He was also accused of being involved in the target killing of outlawed Peoples Amn Committee leader Zafar Baloch in Lyari last year and the firing incident in Sher Shah scrap market that claimed at least 10 lives. The Sindh government had announced Rs500,000 reward for his arrest as he was never arrested during his lifetime.

Lyari Task Force’s former chief SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that Jhengu was wanted to the police in over 70 cases. “He became popular for dancing over the bodies of his victims,” he recalled.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2014.