KARACHI: The government has announced Rs2 million each to be paid as compensation to the families of policemen killed in the Lyari operation.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Rehman Malik while addressing a gathering at the police headquarters in Garden on Saturday night.

They reiterated the government’s determination to wipe out criminals from Lyari and other parts of the city as well as the rest of Sindh.

They accused the PML-N leaders of encouraging those involved in the gang war and even offering them to join the party.

Mr Shah said that criminals who had made innocent people hostage and were engaged in land-grabbing, extortion and drug and arms smuggling would be dealt with firmly and ruthlessly.

“Criminals equipped with latest weapons used innocent people as human shield while waging a war against the elected government,” he said, adding that not only innocent residents but PPP leaders and workers and policemen had been targeted because of their support for the government’s efforts to eliminate criminal elements from Lyari.

He accused the PML-N of demonstrating political expediency and encouraging those people who were killing policemen, political activists and innocent people in Lyari.—Shamim-ur-Rahman