KARACHI, July 31: The police failed on Wednesday to restore peace in the disturbed parts of Malir with shops and markets remaining closed and tension prevailing in the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-dominated areas throughout the day.

The MQM Haqiqi alleged that the police had picked up 16 activists from Ammar Yasir Society, Indus Mehran, Saudabad, Mohammadi Colony, Model Colony and other areas of Malir on Wednesday.

However, city police chief, Asad Jehangir, denied the arrests and said that a heavy deployment had been made and patrolling had been intensified.

“There was heavy firing in the air in the morning but the situation was brought under control. Public transport has also began plying the roads in the Malir areas”, he said.

The police said the law and order problem had arisen in the Haqiqi-dominated areas of Malir when the police picked up some suspects following the trail of the killers of Zahid Khan, a cousin of SHO New Karachi, Taufeeq Zahid. Zahid was gunned down in Saudabad on July 19.

Residents of the troubled localities said that intense firing began early in the morning and continued for four or five hours, till around 8 am. They said that the police and other law enforcement agencies had vanished soon after the firing started and returned only after it ended.

Following the intense firing, fear and panic gripped the areas, causing the markets and shops to remain closed. Transporters kept their vehicles off the roads because of the deteriorating law and order situation after two vehicles were set on fire in Urdu Nagar and Khokhrapar No3. A Suzuki Carry (CN- 0094) was hijacked and burnt.

Those trying to reach their workplaces suffered severe hardships in the morning with no public transport in sight. Some of them had to walk to the bus stops at Malir Kalaboard, Malir Halt and Malir 15 on Sharea Faisal to catch transport as it was running as usual on the main artery. Those living far from Sharea Faisal had to return home.

The hardest-hit were patients. Most clinics and hospitals in Malir remained closed. Though some of them were open, doctors and paramedic staff could not come to attend the patients who somehow had managed to reach there.

The father of a six-year-old girl said that his daughter had been suffering from fever since the previous night. He had gone to three clinics. Two of them were closed and at the one that was open there was no doctor. He said that due to the absence of public transport he was unable to take his daughter to a doctor.

The sources said that some groups of youths continually appeared on the main roads, fired in the air and disappeared into the narrow lanes. This continued throughout the day with the police failing to control the situation.

A disturbed resident of Malir, talking to Dawn over telephone said: “The heavy deployment of the police and the rangers in the entire Malir has failed to provide security to the residents. They have failed to control the firing which has caused extreme fear and panic in the area. What is the justification of their (law enforcement agencies) presence in the area if they can’t create a sense of security? The shops and markets have remained closed and public transport has disappeared after some vehicles were burnt.”