KARACHI: Police on Friday claimed to have arrested 51 illegal Afghan immigrants in a combing operation in Sohrab Goth’s Afghan Camp.

“More than 200 policemen including ladies police encircled ‘Gana Mandi’ in Sohrab Goth,” said SSP-East Syed Irfan Bahadur on Friday.

The operation was carried out on information about the presence of ‘criminal elements’, he said, adding that entry and exit points of the area were sealed and house-to-house search was launched and criminal record of suspicious persons was checked through biometric verification.

“During operation, 51 illegal Afghan citizens were arrested,” he said, adding that 10 ‘suspicious’ motorcycles were also seized.

The record of all arrested persons was being verified, a police statement said.

Officials said that the police did not face any resistance during the operation.

Talking to Dawn, Abdullah Shah Bukhari, a community leader in Sohrab Goth, said that the police conducted a raid at Afghan Basti near Sohrab Goth at around 3:00am on Friday.

He said that a total of 55 residents were taken away from their homes. He said he and other local Afghan leaders held talks with the police and they released 40 of them after verifying their documents.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023