500 held in search operation – Thumping boots knock on the wrong doors in Orangi?

KARACHI – The law enforcement agencies conducted a search operation in different areas of Orangi Town on Tuesday and arrested over 500 people.
Around 1,500 personnel of police and Rangers, accompanied by helicopters for aerial surveillance and armoured vehicles, cordoned off Faqir Colony, Farid Colony and Umar Baloch Mohalla in Orangi Town and conducted a house-to-house search operation.
After initial investigations, 300 people were released while the remaining suspects were transferred to three different locations for further interrogation.
“There is no definite time limit and the operation will continue until the removal of criminals from the areas,” Rangers’ spokesman Maj Farooq Bilal told reporters.
A police official claimed that the suspects were being interrogated and would be released if not found guilty.
The operation in the Orangi Town neighborhood came after a week of targeted killings that left more than 40 people dead, including several political activists, in Karachi while Orangi Town was the worst hit during the recent spate of violence.
The residents of Orangi Town were confined inside their houses after announcements in the wee hours of Tuesday were made by the law enforcers.
“I was sleeping when I heard my father, who had returned from a mosque after offering Fajr prayer. I got up and listened to the law enforcers’ announcements,” said Jamil Khan, 50, a resident of Faqir Colony.
“I heard the loud thumping sounds of the law enforcers’ boots as they entered the streets and narrow lanes of the neighbourhood. After a silence of few minutes, they started knocking on the doors and asked the residents to let them in,” he added.
“They also entered our house and asked us to show our CNICs. Luckily all of us had the identity cards and B-Forms of children and they left after thanking us for our cooperation,” he said.
However, the families of the arrested residents of Umar Baloch Mohalla staged a protest against the law enforcers.
They were of view that the law enforcers have arrested innocent people and spared all those involved in violence in the town.
They demanded the president, prime minister, federal interior minister and provincial home minister to ensure the early release of their loved ones. They also warned of committing suicide if the high-ups did not meet their demands.
Meanwhile, leaders of different political parties declared the operation a political drama.
“The operation is just eyewash to please a coalition partner” said JI Karachi Ameer Mohammad Hussain Mahenti.
ANP Sindh president Shahi Syed said the operation was centred around the Pakhtun majority areas only and the party would soon devise a strategy to deal with the situation.