KARACHI:
As police turned their attention elsewhere during the month of Ramazan, members of Lyari’s notorious gangs took advantage of the situation to move out of their strongholds in the Old City quarters to prowl in other neighbourhoods of the metropolitan city.
This is perhaps the reason a sharp increase has been witnessed in cases of extortion involving Lyari gangsters. It was reported on Tuesday that a Lyari gang was extorting money from shopkeepers in New Karachi.
A confectionery shop owner in Sector 11-D registered a case on behalf of local market traders at the New Karachi police station under different sections, including extortion, and death threats.
According to him, two armed suspects arrived on a motorcycle in the market around 9pm on Tuesday night and demanded Rs100,000 in extortion from each shopkeeper. When they said they couldn’t pay them such hefty amounts, the suspects opened fire.
A three-year-old toddler named Taimoor Ali was injured by the firing while the suspects fled the scene.
Police arrived shortly after the incident and recovered a 9mm pistol bullet casing from the spot.
However, the ordeal did not end there. Around 10pm, the shopkeepers, including the complainant, received another round of extortion messages, this time demanding Rs1 million and threatening to kill them if they failed to pay up. Police have confirmed that the suspects are linked to Lyari’s gangs.
They transferred the case to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which has launched a hunt for the suspects.
People kill alleged robber
A citizen lost his life as motorcycle-borne suspects targeted him with gunfire during a robbery in the Malir district.
The deceased, 35-year-old Babar, a father of three children, ran a swimming pool, a cold drinks distribution business and an estate agency office.
The assailants attempted to flee, but the public present at the scene managed to nab one of the robbers after a fierce struggle.
Maddened by anger, the crowd pounced on the suspect beating him with punched and kicks and dragging him on the ground till the police arrived at the scene.
Shah Latif Town police took the critically injured suspect to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for treatment.
However, the heirs of the deceased followed the police to the hospital and attacked the suspect again. Subsequently, the robber died of public torture.
The residents of Shah Latif Town are outraged over the killing of two citizens by robbers within two days. The also staged a protest on the National Highway.
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