Businessmen continue to flee city as extortionists set up shop

Police say it is taking effective measures against extortionists and carrying out regular raids.

PESHAWAR:

The ‘business’ of extortion continues to flourish in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) amid lawlessness, insecurity and deteriorating socio-economic conditions, effectively driving businessmen out of the provincial capital.

According to a member of the K-P Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI), nearly 14 families have left the city after the police failed to provide them security from extortionists.

“The businessmen of Peshawar are the ones most affected by extortion. People are selling their properties, real estate and wrapping up their businesses — be they tyre shops, restaurants or even shopping plazas,” he said, requesting anonymity.

KPCCI President Zahidullah Shinwari shared that every day several businessmen and industrialists call the chamber’s office for help in dealing with unidentified people who are demanding extortion from them.

“The situation is getting worse day by day and we cannot protect anyone,” said the chamber’s president.

Owing to inadequate security, most of the businessmen are transferring their investments to other parts of the country. “They are selling their properties even if they incur a huge loss on the deal,” Shinwari shared.

He added several meetings were held with IGP Nasir Khan Durrani and he had assured them that the menace of extortion would be curbed, but the incidents increase instead of decreasing.

“KPCCI members are trying to convince businessmen and asking them not to leave the city. But we cannot stop them from doing so. There is no way out of an extortion demand. For everyone, the safety of their family is paramount,” explained Shinwari.

“First militancy negatively affected our businesses, then it was kidnapping for ransom and now extortion is wreaking havoc,” said the KPCCI president.

Action against perpetrators

Police remains aware of the issue and maintains it is taking effective measures against extortionists and carrying out regular crackdowns.

“Nearly every businessman whose business circumference has exceeded certain limits has received a call from unidentified callers asking for ‘donations’ which vary from Rs0.1 million to Rs5 billion,” a senior police official said.

Peshawar Operations SSP Najibullah told The Express Tribune the police had recently arrested 17 alleged extortionists from the city by following scientific techniques to trace criminals. “Our investigation thus far has revealed that 10 groups are involved in the illegal activity and they are being controlled by larger groups from the tribal areas,” said Najibullah.

He added these groups were involved in extorting money from people in tribal areas, Peshawar as well as other parts of the country. “Some banned outfits are involved in extortion, however, most groups are just using the names of such outfits,” he shared.

The police official further explained that most extortionists use unregistered Afghan SIMs to contact their target and in a recent crackdown police seized 18,000 illegal Afghan SIMs.

According to Najibullah, those arrested with the SIMs were charged under Section 387/25 of the Telecom Act and Section 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code, among others, and they confessed to their crime during interrogation.

The SSP insisted the police was putting all its efforts into maintaining law and order in the province, however, everything cannot be fixed in one day.

Alleged extortionists handed over to police

An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday handed over two alleged extortionists into police custody for five days. They were arrested for calling a man through an unknown mobile number and demanding Rs10 million.

The investigation officer of the Tehkal police station, Inspector Nasim Hayat, told the court that suspects Janas Khan of Shaheen Town and Nazim of Khyber Agency, made a phone call to Haji Shakirullah on February 23 and asked for Rs10 million. He said the suspects threatened Shakirullah with dire consequences if he failed to pay up. He added that the suspects had pretended to be from the Taliban and the police had been able to catch them by tracing the mobile number.

According to the investigation officer, they needed to keep the men in their custody for 10 more days to reach their accomplices. The court turned down their request and granted them a five-day custody instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2014.