December 03, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 4, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 2: A heavy contingent of police, backed by Rangers, carried out a search operation in Afghan Basti (better known as Kochi Camp) at Super Highway here on Tuesday, detaining 24 suspects and recovering arms and ammunition.

Police officials say that two proclaimed offenders, who are wanted in several criminal cases including murder, are among those detained.

The police advance into Afghan Basti was different in that it was the first such operation to actually be carried out, though several have been planned by law-enforcement agencies in the past. Earlier plans have always been aborted at the eleventh hour due to ‘political considerations’.

The captured suspects are now being interrogated by police to ascertain their identities and their involvement in criminal activities. Police officials say that several of those arrested are already wanted in connection with FIRs registered at different police stations.

A senior police officer says that unscrupulous elements of Afghan Basti were responsible for Sunday’s killing of a passer-by, who was returning home after purchasing a sacrificial animal.

Around 1,000 police personnel from the two police towns of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gadap advanced into Afghan Basti, assisted by Rangers personnel. The police contingent was led by Gulshan SP Sohail Zafar Chattha, who was assisted by Gadap SP Rao Anwar.

“We were anticipating resistance from the Afghan Basti, but as it turned out the police didn’t encounter resistance and conducted a swift operation,” SP Chattha said.

Police officials said they had a list with the profiles of certain absconders who were believed to be residing in the Afghan Camp. They also confirmed that two such suspects were arrested in the operation. They went on to say that the arrested suspects are wanted in cases such as murder, highway robbery and police encounters, most of which took place near the Super Highway. Almost all of the arrested suspects were Afghans living in the encampment of huts off the Super Highway.

Police officials said that in the future, such operations would be conducted at the Afghan camp with greater frequency, in order to flush out suspects.

A senior officer noted, however, that the operation could have been more successful if it had been properly planned. He suggested that police personnel should have laid siege to the settlement in the early hours of the morning, and law-enforcement agencies should then have advanced and combed through every house.

Local residents, however, were visibly irked by the operation and raised questions before the media as to why such an operation has not been carried out in other areas of the city where violence has taken place.