• Lanjar claims efforts underway for extradition of foreign-based gangsters
• Says KP govt asked to take action against 11 arms dealers supplying weapons to riverine area gangs
KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said on Tuesday that five major extortion networks operating from abroad were active in Karachi and that efforts were underway to have their ringleaders extradited and arrested.
Speaking at a press conference at the Central Police Office, the home minister identified the ringleaders of the five networks as Wasiullah Lakho, Jameel Changa, Bahadur PMT, Gul Sher Jagirani and Azeem.
Accompanied by Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon and Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho, the minister said the Sindh government had approached the federal government for extradition of the ringleaders of the five gangs.
Speaking on the occasion, IGP Memon said that gangster Lakho topped the list of those involved in extortion rackets.
He disclosed that the government had sent a request to Interpol for issuance of ‘red notice’ against Lakho.
He added that necessary documents regarding two other gangsters —Ahmed Ali Magsi and Samad Kathiawari — had been sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which already forwarded the relevant letters for issuance of red notices against them.
The IGP clarified that the preparation and verification of documents to meet international legal requirements took some time.
Talking about police action against extortion rackets, the minister said law enforcers had recently conducted several operations against these gangs, arrested 37 members and killed one of them in encounters.
In a veiled reference to a raid on the house of Sunni Tehreek’s chief, he said recently an action was also conducted at an “important residence” in the metropolis and eight suspected extortionists were arrested with weapons.
To a question, the home minister, without naming the head of the religious party, said legal action would be taken against him for providing “shelter to criminals”.
He said these arrests were made within seven days after the Association of Builders and Developers raised concerns over incidents of extortion at a press conference and during a meeting with the chief minister.
He said a WhatsApp group had been created where the builders and traders could directly lodge their complaints to senior police officers.
Surrender or face consequences, dacoits warned
Talking about a recent joint police-Rangers operation in riverine area to recover over one dozen Quetta-bound passengers abducted in Ghotki district, he said that four hardened bandits were killed and ‘military-grade’ weapons were recovered from them.
He said these joint operations by Sindh and Punjab police and the paramilitary force were conducted in “hard-to-access riverine areas”.
The minister declared that they had adopted a policy of “surrender or face the consequences” for riverine bandits.
To a question, the home minister said that at least 11 arms dealers who provided sophisticated weapons to riverine area gangs had been identified and the Sindh government had asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take action against them.
He hoped that after action against such dealers, flow of arms to the riverine areas would be reduced, which would lead to further improvement in law and order there.
