KARACHI: Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, on Saturday claimed to have arrested a suspected gangster wanted in 25 cases of heinous crimes — killings, attacks on law enforcers, extortion and kidnapping.

Acting on a tip-off, the paramilitary force’s intelligence team conducted an action in Ali Mohammed Mohalla of Lyari and apprehended Shahzad, aliases Mohammed Azeem and Faizu Dada, who was associated with the Ghaffar Zikri gang.

Ghaffar Zikri was gunned down with his minor son in an encounter jointly carried out by the police and Intelligence Bureau in Lyari last year.

Fire destroys record in bank branch

A spokesperson for the paramilitary force said that the held suspect was wanted for targeted killings, attacks on institutions and extortion and there were at least 25 FIRs registered against him while the Sindh government had announced a reward of Rs300,000 for his arrest.

Attacks on law enforcers

Sharing details of the list of his alleged crimes, the spokesperson said that the held suspect with his accomplices carried out at least 11 attacks on policemen in 2007 and 2008 in which three citizens were also killed during an exchange of fire.

He also gunned down a man, Kareem Shah, over non-payment of extortion in 2009 besides killing a citizen on directions of Ghaffar Zikri the same year. He also gunned down an alleged drug peddler, Shah Jehan, on directions of Ghaffar Zikri in 2011. He and his accomplices kidnapped Jamshed, a member of the Kutchhi Rabita Committee, and later killed him the same year.

Kidnapping for ransom

At the behest of Ghaffar Zikri, the held suspect with his accomplices kidnapped Murad Bakhsh in Orangi Town in 2007 and released him after taking ransom. He also kidnapped a fish trader belonging to the Memon community in Lyari and released him after taking ransom in 2010. In 2011, he kidnapped an Urdu-speaking man in Liaquatabad and released him after taking ransom, said the Rangers spokesperson.

In an attempt to evade arrest, the suspect also got a ‘fake’ CNIC made in Turbat, Balochistan.

The Rangers handed him over to the police for further legal action, according to a press release.

Fire erupts in an FTC bank

A fire erupted inside a private bank branch located in the Finance and Trade Centre (FTC) on Sharea Faisal on Saturday, which destroyed some office record, police and hospital officials said.

The acting SHO of Saddar, Malik Hayat, said that the fire broke out inside the Meezan Bank branch located on the ground floor of the multistorey building. The incident occurred at 1.50pm.

The officer added that two fire tenders of the KMC’s Fire Brigade and Clifton Cantonment coupled with the internal fire management system of the FTC put out the blaze at 2.25pm.

He ruled out the possibility of any sabotage behind the incident. The Saddar police officer said that the fire broke out because of a short circuit.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2019