=> KARACHI: The Army was called out in Sindh, includi
KARACHI: The Army was called out in Sindh, including certain areas of Karachi, on Friday to control the law and order situation as 20 more people, including police officials and a five-year-old boy, were killed in the city, and hundreds were injured with riots and lawlessness continuing for the second consecutive day.
The most gruesome incident took place in Korangi where armed men burnt a garment factory, burning alive eight persons.
An ISPR official said that the Sindh government had requisitioned 20 Army battalions to be deployed all over the province. Five of these will stay in Karachi (Orangi, Malir, Safoora Chowk, Bin Qasim, Site Area, Steel Mills Colony), two battalions will go to Hyderabad, and one battalion each will be deployed in Jamshoro, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allah Yar, Nowsheroferoz, Dadu, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Larkana, Shahadadkot, Ghotki and Kashmore.
The Sindh home minister said that the troops had started patrolling in Karachi. No decision has been taken regarding the curfew yet, he said.
He added that those found looting and plundering would be dealt with strictly and would not be spared. ìNo one would be allowed to play with the lives of people,î he said.
Miscreants burnt shops, banks, police stations, factories and buildings, and more than 400 vehicles in two days.
Shops and offices have remained closed since the news of the Pakistan PeopleÃs Party (PPP) chairperson, Benazir BhuttoÃs assassination first broke at around 06:00 pm Thursday, and the country continues to suffer losses of billions of rupees.
The security situation in the city seems to be out of control, and even though high alert has been declared, miscreants continued to wreak havoc in Karachi.
All petrol pumps, main shopping centres, commercial areas, and shops remained closed for the second day in a row on Friday. There was no business activity in any part of the city and public transport remained off the roads. Even the number of private vehicles plying on the roads was very thin, as was the attendance at offices. While most employees preferred to stay at home rather than go out and risk being attacked, some were forced to return home after waiting at bus stops in vain for public transport.
Reports of violence also continued to trickle in from almost every part of the city. These included incidents of firing and arson.
Mobs vandalised the Lyari Railway Station, and burnt furniture and records, before setting up a bonfire on the Mauripur Road.
Fire engines rushed in soon after reports of arson were received, from a bank in Haji camp area, a factory on Plot No HT 1/2 in the Korangi Industrial Area (KIA), the office of UC-13, KIA, and to a Nadra office near Jamaat Khana, Lasbela.
A Kharadar Police Station official said two sub-inspectors, identified as Aziz and Israr, were injured in a shootout in Lea Market’s Khajoor Chowk.
Meanwhile, a five-year-old boy identified as Sahil was shot and killed in Shershah. A security guard was shot dead when he tried to resist dacoits in the jurisdiction of the Soldier Bazaar police station.
In Lyari TownÃs Kalri police limits, Police Constable Altaf Hussain was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen at around 03:00 am while he was moving from his station to a new post at the Darakhshan police station. Another constable was killed in Liaquatabad.
In Sachal area, some rioters tried to set fire to a building near the Suparco office. They were also firing weapons when security officials retaliated, killing one of the miscreants and injuring two.
A water tanker was torched in Steel Town. It exploded, killing a man standing nearby, while two people were killed in Jamshed Quarters and Shah Faisal Colony. One of them was identified as Ubaid.
Another major incident of Friday was the torching of a private garment factory in Korangi. Twenty-four workers were present in the factory, when some men broke into the premises and damaged items and machinery, looted equipment, set fire to the factory and fled. Six people were burnt to death while others were rescued. In Lyari, a building was torched and around 20 vehicles were burnt.
In Saudabad, two young men identified as Mobeen and Ubaid were killed, while one man identified as Rashid was killed in Mauripur. Rioters also attacked the Mauripur Police Station, injuring 11 people, including police officials. The police station was set on fire, as was a police mobile, five cars and a Navy water tanker before the miscreants fled.
In Pak Colony, three people were injured. Two of them were identified as Mumtaz and Qadri, while the identity of the third remains unknown.
Two banks were also torched on Nishter Road, and another bank was set alight in Timber Market. Two banks were burnt on the Siddiq Wahab Road, while a bank was torched near Ibrahim Ali Bhai Auditorium in Garden. Another bank was burnt in Keamari, and a bank was torched in Korangi.
In Baldia, two Shehzore trucks, and three motorcycles were torched.
Meanwhile, eight shops were looted and gutted in Soldier Bazaar and a foreign bank was torched near Schon Circle. Miscreants also attacked the Memon Goth police station, burnt it down, injured police officials, torched four cars, two motorcycles and also took the officialsà weapons with them before fleeing.
In Bin Qasim Town, a police post was burnt, while a traffic police outpost was gutted in Numaish. More than 100 vehicles were torched in two days between Banaras Chowk and Habib Bank Chowrangi, while more than 150 trucks, trailers and cars were burnt on the National Highway.
The miscreants also torched 25 vehicles outside Aladdin Park, 40 at Nipa Chowrangi and 45 on Sabzi Mandi Road. The torched vehicles included at least four buses and three pickups, while the rest were cars.
Five people were shot and injured in Ibrahim Hyderi, one in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block-20, and one in Bhitaiabad, while two policemen were injured near Lea Market.
Meanwhile, 60 more troublemakers were arrested from various parts of the city, sources said.
Kamran Mansoor adds: Miscreants torched 16 Edhi ambulances on the premises of Edhi Village on the Super Highway. A post office was set ablaze in Khadda Market, Lyari. Eleven Edhi ambulances were damaged in Guru Mandar. One Edhi ambulance was damaged near NIPA Chowrangi and another was damaged in Baldia Town. Rashid, Sarfaraz, Nadir, Zia and an unidentified man were shot and wounded by the police within the precincts of the Mauripur police station.
Source: The News
Date:12/29/2007
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