Manghopir operation: Second gunbattle with suspected militants helps arrest another 26

The operation was conducted to retrieve four kidnapped men.

KARACHI:

In the crackdown against criminals and alleged militant, law enforcement agencies have detained another 26 suspects during a second targeted operation in Manghopir on Saturday.

In the follow-up to the grand operation in Manghopir on Friday, the law enforcement agencies conducted another targeted operation in Sultanabad in search of the militants and apprehended another 26 suspects. They said that the members of the militant outfits were also among the detainees, adding that they had been shifted to an undisclosed location for further questioning.

Police officials said that the latest operation was conducted in a bid to recover the four abducted industrialists and traders, kidnapped from different parts of the city. The kidnappers had demanded millions of rupees from their families for their release. "Keeping the sensitivity of the area in mind, we thought it better to keep the Rangers along with us during the operation," said a senior official of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC). "It was a right decision as we faced massive retaliation from the militants during the operation. Nonetheless, the kidnapped were recovered safely."

On Friday, at least five militants allegedly belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jaish-e-Mohammad were killed during a collaborative effort of the AVCC, Rangers and District West police in Sultanabad.

Sources privy to the matter told The Express Tribune that some gangs other than the TTP were also involved in the above-mentioned kidnappings. The police have no previous criminal records of these gangs, they said. "With these arrests, we will definitely be able to detect more cases of untraced kidnappings," explained a senior officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2014.