KARACHI, Aug 9: Industrialists have condemned bomb attacks on innocent people, especially the students of a madressah located in SITE area.

They urged Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim to take a serious note of the situation and direct the law-enforcement agencies to be more vigilant so that such incidents did not occur in future.

Chairman of the SITE Association of Industry Mohammad Nisar Sheikhani, President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Patron in-chief of the SITE Association Siraj Kassam Teli, and ex-chairmen of the Association M. Zubair Motiwala and Haroon Farooki, in a statement on Monday expressed their grave concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the SITE Industrial area. They observed that the situation had become serious over the last three/four months.

They said that crime was on the increase despite the fact that the Association had constantly been drawing the concerned authorities' attention towards the problem. They strongly condemned Sunday's bomb blast and described it as a 'pre-planned attack'.

They said that the way the bombs were planted and detonated indicated that maximum casualties were aimed at. At the same time, they added, the terrorists wanted to create as much panic as possible and magnify the sense of insecurity.

Killing of any innocent person is tragic and condemn able, they said, and added that assassinating religious figures and scholars was even more condemn able. The SITE industrial area is a hub of economic and industrial activities where more than 2,500 industries are actively engaged day and night in producing goods for local and international markets.

It is estimated that an investment of more than US$5 billion is involved and there are over half a million people employed there. The industrialists said that the SITE units contributed major share in the country's forex reserves by earning foreign exchange through exports.

The SITE industrial area, they added, was the single largest contributor to the national exchequer in terms of duties, taxes, etc. Thus, it enjoyed great significance in building national economy.

They said that such incidents created apprehensions over the safety and security and serious retardant towards normal industrial activity. They called upon the concerned officials to take strict measures to restore industrialists' confidence and investment-friendly atmosphere in the SITE area.