KARACHI, Feb 25 With top gangsters in Lyari enjoying growing patronage of politicians and the law-enforcement agencies turning a blind eye to criminal activities, extortionists have added to the economic woes of small traders as well as the common people in the area by making demands for protection money.

The gangsters send a slip of paper - known as `parchi` in local parlance - to a trader and settle the amount between their demand and the victim`s capacity to pay.

“Actually there is no demand written on the slip. It has a cellphone number with the instruction that the victim call at that number,” divulged a scared shopkeeper with repeated requests of anonymity. If the shopkeeper does not call the cell number within the deadline, armed men carrying sophisticated weapons turn up at the shop and even at the trader`s home, the shopkeeper said.

He said the demand was made once the shopkeeper made a call on the cell number.

The extortion demand generally ranges from Rs50,000 to Rs100,000 and sometimes goes up to between Rs300,000 and Rs600,000.

However, as in cases of kidnap for ransom, the extortion amount is also negotiated as generally shopkeepers plead for less amounts citing their poor financial conditions.

“Generally, people don`t go to the police to report extortion cases, but in some cases where police were approached, they suggested to the complainant to settle the issue by paying the extortion amount,” a shopkeeper said.

Big businesses have left Lyari and those small traders who could afford have also shifted elsewhere. “But small shopkeepers who don`t have resources to relocate are the hardest hit,” said a shopkeeper, adding that there was no buyer for their shops or apartments in Lyari. “At sunset every shopkeeper tries to close his shop as soon as he can or hurries home, but if you have not called the cellphone number, the gangsters may knock at your door,” the shopkeeper said.

Area people told Dawn that both notorious gangs were involved in extortion from shopkeepers. And political parties do not want to lag behind their professional counterparts -- they demand chanda, or donations, for their political activities. In this case, too, residents and traders have no other option but to satisfy the demand. Even the proscribed outfit of Sipah-e-Sahaba has been collecting forced donations from the small shopkeepers of the area.

“With the new government in place, gangsters in Lyari have attained fresh honorific titles,” said an area resident. “Rehman Dakait has become Khan bhai.”

Upset with the formation of “peace committees” being set up by Abdul Rehman Baloch, alias Dakait, area residents alleged they were yet another means of extortion as every shopkeeper was supposed to pay money to those committees.

Several senior officials of the police department and intelligence agencies told Dawn that Rehman Dakait was frequently seen accompanying an important minister of the Sindh government.

“Similarly, Ghaffar Zikri, the front man of Arshad Pappu, has also staged a comeback in Ali Muhammad Mohallah,” said an area resident. Zikri`s men were already notorious for their involvement in the extortion business.

“What else can one expect of the authorities if a proclaimed offender routinely visits the offices of provincial ministers, enjoying a celebrity status, if not on a par with the minister?” remarked a senior official of a law-enforcement agency.

In fact, these gangs have divided areas between themselves and have spread in the entire Lyari unlike the past when they were restricted to certain localities.

Alleging that there was a complete failure of the ban on pillion riding in Lyari, area people said criminal elements roamed about there in twos and threes on motorcycles with impunity, and police only caught common people for flouting the ban.

It has transpired that an operation against the gangsters launched about a year back in Lyari was only a cosmetic exercise.

No high-value suspect was put behind bars following the so-called operation. A handful of pickets set up in Ali Muhammad Mohallah have also been abandoned by the law-enforcement agencies, residents said.

Though for a brief period some degree of peace was restored as Ghaffar Zikri`s gang had abandoned the area, gradually they have staged a comeback and now maintain a conspicuous presence in the area.

The Rehman Dakait gang was not disturbed by the law-enforcement agencies when the so-called operation was launched.

Lyari SP Rana Pervaiz told Dawn that since he had taken charge of the office two weeks back, no case of extortion was reported to the police.

The SP said he was investigating one such incident that had come to his notice.

He asserted that if extortion cases were reported to the police, strict action would be taken against the suspects and the complainant would be given full protection by the police.

However, the officer admitted that he could not eradicate the menace “if it is only one or two per cent”.