News
Monday, June 04, 2012
176 fall victim to Karachi violence in May* Law enforcement agencies seem unable to stop bloodshed
* 95 people killed in January, 93 in February, 131 in March and 187 in April
By Atif Raza
KARACHI: Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) on Sunday appeared toothless to nab any notorious criminal, despite there is no letup in the losses of human lives as 176 persons were killed in the month of May 2012.
Religious extremism, ethnic violence, mafia wars and political violence have turned the city of light into darkness and spread shadow of death across it. Despite tall claims of law enforcement agencies, the terrorists have targeted citizens, police, rangers and religious scholars fearlessly.
In May, well-known religious scholar, Maulana Aslam Sheikhupuri, SP Shah Muhammad, Dr Dilshad, Mufti Zeeshan, Mufti Danish, Sub-Inspector Abdul Hameed and others were killed ruthlessly. May 22 was the most violent day of the month as a rally of nationalist party against the proposed creation of Muhajir province came under armed attack that gulped the blood of 16 lives while 22 vehicles, eight shops and three houses were torched. These sort of incidents were not happened only in May, but occurred since the beginning of this year after which the performance of law enforcement agencies has been questionable as 95 people were killed in January, 93 in February, 131 in March and 187 in April. Some 679 persons were killed from January to May in 2012.
The year 2011 was the worst year in terms of killings during last 15 years as 1,724 people lost their lives only in this year. Before that, the year 1995 registered 1,742 deaths from January to December. On the other hand, the LEAs despite snap checking, routine patrolling and targeted operations have failed to control the street crimes as 2,272 vehicles, 8,830 bikes and some 10,000 cell phones were snatched or stolen in ongoing year.
It has been observed that the people, who were killed on personal ground, were registered on the account of the spate of targeted killings. The most horrible incident was witnessed when a person namely Islam Baloch was killed in Mawatch Goth. Subsequently, his two brothers also fell victim when they came to Karachi from Iran to receive his body. The assailants also targeted the ambulance carrying two of their relatives and their mother when they were traveling with the bodies of three brothers. However, the police are still unable to even identify the culprits involved in the atrocious incident.
Similarly, in Nazimabad near Annu Bhai Park, unknown armed riders killed three persons when they sprayed the residents of Hassan Aulia village with bullets while returning home after attending a marriage ceremony. The investigators claimed that the Lyari gangsters were involved in this attack. The investigators said the Lyari gang war, which was stopped after the arrest of Arshad Pappu, regained momentum and the killings in Surjani and Nazimabad were in this connection.
The LEAs are now claiming that banned outfits, ethnic parties and other criminals are now supporting each other to run their illicit activities. It is pertinent to mention here that Additional Inspector General (AIG) Akhtar Hussain Gorchani in a press conference held on May 12 claimed to have prevented target killings while IG Sindh on the question linked the target killing with the hot May, which is not supposed to be done by the Sindh Police chief.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk