KARACHI: A son of notorious Lyari gangster Rehman Dakait was shot dead in an alleged encounter in old city area on Monday.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza claimed that Sarban, who’s in his early 20s, was organising a gang of criminals in Lyari.

“An encounter between street criminals and police within the remit of the Nabi Bux police station took place in which Sarban was shot dead and his accomplice, identified as Maqsood, was arrested in wounded condition,” the DIG told Dawn.

Sarban’s father Rehman had also met a similar fate in 2009. He, along with his three accomplices, was also killed by police.

The DIG said that Sarban was previously involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom cases.

Police say Sarban was wanted in several cases of murder, drug trade, kidnapping for ransom and extortion

In March 2021, the police arrested him on charges of drug peddling and claimed to have seized 1,520 kilogrammes of hashish, 50 grams of ‘ice’ and 60 grams of crystal meth from his possession. He was booked in five cases and sent to prison, but later enlarged on bail. He got bail in his last case on June 14, 2022 and began his criminal activities.

The police claimed to have recovered two .30-bore pistols and one snatched motorcycle from their custody.

“Sarban was following the criminal path of his slain father and was again organising a gang in Lyari,” the DIG said.

‘Reign of terror’

A police statement said that the slain gangster had established a reign of terror in the old city area, particularly Lyari.

Last week, Sarban and his accomplice had killed a man and wounded two others in Kalakot.

The police said he, along with his accomplices, had kidnapped an 11-year old boy in Raxer Lane. The suspects raped the boy and brutally killed him. In order to hide the identity of the victim, they threw acid on the body and then dumped it in the Kalakot area, they added.

Last year, he had shot dead a man, Umer, over resistance to motorbike snatching bid in Nazimabad.

The police said that Sarban and others kidnapped people for ransom, took them to a graveyard where they buried them in ‘fake’ graves just to terrorise them.

“They also subjected children to criminal assault and made videos of their horrific act in order to blackmail their victims and their families,” it added.

‘One of many sons of Rehman’

Lyari residents and social activists said that Rehman Dakait had many sons and daughters from his three wives and Sarban was from his second wife who had three more sons from Rehman. She had married a local builder after the death of Rehman.

They said that Sarban had first joined his father’s rival gang in Jehanabad but later moved to Raxer Lane and started living in Chakiwara.

He, along with other gangsters, had established drug dens in the area due to which narcotics trade had increased manifold in Lyari, they added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2024