KARACHI: Law-enforcement agencies in the city appear to have failed to contain the breakdown of law and order that started when a wave of ethnic violence hit the city on Saturday.

So far more than 40 people have been killed and hundreds others have been left wounded. There has also been a significant amount of damage to property, both public and private.

While the police force has reportedly been authorised to raid suspected locations and arrest those alleged to be involved in the violence, observers say the force has been politicised for so long that in the current situation, it is simply succumbing to political considerations.

A senior police officer told Dawn that police officers right through the ranks do not go the extra mile to enforce the writ of law 'for fear of their postings.'

By Monday evening the police claimed to have arrested 100 suspects in connection with the violence, but 45 of those proved to be nothing more than young boys, brought before the courts on Monday to augment the head count.

The real perpetrators of the violence continue to go free, with violence continuing in various areas of the city. Requesting anonymity, a senior police officer told Dawn that the police are often aware of the affiliations, if not the identities, of suspects involved in the violence. He said even so, the police are not conducting raids at the offices and homes of these suspects to arrest them.

The paramilitary Rangers have been called in to aid the local police in several areas, but, according to one official, they are seen only on the sidelines. Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza told reporters Saturday evening that all law-enforcement agencies had been issued 'shoot-to-kill' orders, and confirmed that a notification in this regard was issued on Monday. Legal experts, however, say that there is no legal provision for any such orders. Requesting anonymity, a senior Sindh Home department official told Dawn that 'shoot-to-kill' orders are simply for public consumption, and that under Anti Terrorist Act 5(2)-1, law-enforcement officers could only fire in self defence, and that too after issuing due warning.

On the ground, law-enforcement agencies continue to stand by while violence continues to flare in pockets across the city.

The upper echelons of the security set-up were aware that ethnic tensions in the city were simmering, as a meeting was held at the Central Police Office, with the police hierarchy, Home Minister Mirza and the heads of various intelligence agencies (rare participants at CPO meetings) in attendance just a day before violence broke out. Sources confirm that ethnic tensions were discussed at length during the meeting.

Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) chief Sharfuddin Memon says that it is now high time that a comprehensive camera network be installed in the city, so that those involved in such violence could be identified and arrested. Memon says the city should be monitored from a central command, from where security forces and ambulances can be dispatched to locations where violence has occurred.

Over the past few months there have been several visible indicators that the city was likely to face a serious law and order situation, but the government has failed to take action. For example, over the last few weeks several tea shops have been forcibly shut in different areas of the city by unknown persons. Those working for daily wages have also been displaced. A senior police officer of the Karachi police told Dawn that 'a fairly large number' of tea shops were closed down by operators in the face of continuing threats. Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed, however, insists that only 15-20 shops have been shut. It is to be noted that the first killing on Sunday morning was of a tea hotel owner in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri.

A tripartite meeting on Saturday between members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party and Pakistan Peoples Party, the three main political forces in Karachi, yielded few results, with political leaders issuing statements of harmony while ethnic violence continued to rage across the city by the sea.