KARACHI, Feb 19: Residents of Lyari Town have expressed concern over frequent exchanges of fire between gangsters and urged the law enforcers to take effective measures to curb the rising trend of violence.

They complained that due to negligence, Baghdadi and Daryabad union council areas had been turned into the hubs of criminal activities.

They pointed out that on Sunday night a youth was shot dead in a busy commercial area of the locality and the criminals escaped the scene and the area police failed to trace them.

This incident created panic among the people who preferred to stay indoors.

A senior social worker on condition of anonymity said that the people had lost faith in every institution.

They are fully convinced that they cannot stop armed gangsters, he added saying that “where government agencies fail to deliver, what an ordinary citizen can do.”

A resident of Singoo Lane complained that criminals had been exchanging fire for the past few days.

He called for deployment of rangers personnel at the important places of the locality as the police had totally failed to control the law and order situation.

He said earlier the situation had improved to a great extent after the deployment of rangers but started to deteriorate after their withdrawal.

Several people mostly youth have lost their lives in these gang wars, which has created widespread panic among the area people.