KARACHI: Bombs and other explosives were recovered in a raid conducted by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Orangi Town on Monday evening while nearly a dozen suspects were detained in a targeted operation in New Karachi.
Officials and personnel of the CID's Anti-Extremist Cell raided the hideout of militants from a banned outfit in Mominabad, Orangi Town. DSP Ali Raza, who heads the Anti-Extremist Cell, said that the raid was conducted on the basis of information they received about the presence of men working with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He added that the suspect the militants were plotting attacks in the city and were in possession of explosive materials and bombs.
CID officials said that there was heavy firing from both sides and the militants managed to escape into the narrow streets of the neighbourhood.
According to Raza, they reached the hideout after a shootout and found a large cache of bombs, explosives and weapons that could have been used in attacks. The bomb disposal squad was called in immediately to defuse the explosive devices.
Initial reports suggest that around 100 kilogrammes of explosive material was recovered from the hideout along with three suicide jackets which were ready to be used, one bottle bomb, three hand grenades, 18 packet bombs, one Kalashnikov, 30 detonators, wires, six batteries, 13 cellphones, three remote controls, two vehicles with government number plates, three pistols, six uniforms belonging to security forces, including the police.
Arrests
Around 14 suspects were detained during an overnight targeted operation in different parts of New Karachi's Bilal Colony, including Sector 5-E and 5-J. The entire neighbourhood was cordoned off during the operation - no one was allowed to enter or exit the area for at least three hours. They took 14 suspects into custody and also recovered weapons from some of them. The suspects were taken to an undisclosed location for further questioning.
Following the arrests, the families of the suspects held a protest and demanded that their loved ones should be released immediately. They claimed that the police had arrested innocent men.
While talking to The Express Tribune, New Karachi's SP Chaudhry Asad said that the arrested men had no links to any political or religious party.
Meanwhile, in Lyari, the police recovered awan bombs and weapons during another targeted operation conducted near Gabol Park, Kalakot. Police officials claimed that the operation was conducted on information they received about the presence of gangsters in the area. They added that during the operation a gang member was injured but managed to escape. In total, the police recovered 24 awan bombs, four pistols and more than 800 ammunitions for sub-machine guns.
'Supplier' of fake medicines held
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed to have arrested a key suspect involved in supplying fake and smuggled medicines in the city on Monday. The accused, identified as Imran alias Mama, was arrested during a raid conducted at Wahab Medicine Market in Saddar.
FIA officials also said that they had confiscated fake and smuggled medicines worth over Rs150 million from his possession.
They added that other suspects, namely Waheed, Sohail and Barkat, had been arrested for selling fake or smuggled medicines in previous raids. According to the officials, the FIA has initiated a crackdown against such criminals and the operation would continue until all suppliers involved in selling fake or smuggled medicines were arrested.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2014.
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