KARACHI: Pakistan Rangers Sindh has recommended a crackdown on terror-funding activities across Karachi, in which the law-enforcing agency claims several influential personalities of Sindh are directly involved.

The director general (DG) of Rangers Sindh, Major General Bilal Akbar, had recently briefed the apex committee on terrorism-funding activities in Karachi, highlighting the involvement of several high-profile personalities in land grabbing and collecting extortion.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the Rangers DG told the apex committee that illegally acquired funds were channeled to various criminal outfits and individuals — including those involved in the Lyari gang war.

He said such funds were also distributed to several ‘influential’ personalities and officials in Sindh.

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In his report to the apex committee, the Rangers chief said donations collected in the guise of charitable works, even money from hides of sacrificial animals, were being injected into criminal activities in the province, adding that armed wings of political and religious parties have been feeding on these funds.

Maj Gen Bilal Akbar also revealed that money collected from shops and markets via extortion totaled billions of rupees, adding that political parties, city district governments and administrations, police officials, construction companies and real estate agents were involved in china cutting.

The land-grabbing mafia, he said, operated systematically under the tutelage of a prominent political party in Karachi.

The Rangers chief specially highlighted the role of high-profile and influential personalities in such illegal activities, adding that in addition to battling criminal elements via an explicit operation, there was a need to crack down on terror-funding mechanisms.

The report was lauded by the Sindh apex committee, which has decided to form a committee to investigate these allegations in detail.