KARACHI – Businessmen operating on Shahrah-e-Faisal are now being extorted by the bhatta mafia, who have replaced parchis with direct threats over cell phones to wring money out of corporate facilities. Many businessmen suspect that the Ferozabad police is abetting the bhatta mafia, as police vans stationed near offices take no action against the extortionists while officials at the station are reluctant to register FIRs. One such businessman is the owner of Overseas Employment Promoters, a company whose office is situated in a building off Shahrah-e-Faisal. While requesting his name to be withheld, he told Pakistan Today that he had received a call on his cell phone from the bhatta mafia, demanding payment of Rs 10,000 every month in extortion.
“I immediately sent my office boy to a nearby bank to withdraw the cash, and all this while, the criminal did not disconnect the phone call. After the office boy returned, I asked him where I should hand over the cash, and he told me that he was waiting downstairs,” the businessman said. “When I went downstairs, I saw two young boys standing next to a police van of the Ferozabad police station. I handed over the cash, and they walked off without any fear,” he said.
The owner of Overseas Employment Promoters is not the only one to be harassed in such a manner: other businessmen also reported that extortionists have begun calling them on their cell phones, and wait for their booty outside the offices of their company. Another businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that criminals hang around their offices for hours, and continuously threaten them of dire consequences over phone if their demands are not met.
Meanwhile, the owner of Overseas Employment Promoters told Pakistan Today that the bhatta mafia claims to represent political parties, but in reality, they are not associated with any. “The man who rung me up had presented himself as a sector in charge of the Muttehida Qaumi Movement (MQM). But when I approached MQM headquarters Nine-Zero and apprised the party’s senior members about the incident, they investigated the case and it turned out that the extortionists were not affiliated with the MQM.
In fact, the investigation revealed that the criminals were committing crimes under the complete patronage of the Ferozabad police,” he said. “When we approached the Ferozabad police to lodging a case, officials at the police station insisted on registering a formal complaint instead of an FIR. This makes us suspect that the police are abetting such crimes,” he said. Meanwhile, the same modus operandi is being employed by the mafia operating in Saddar. The owner of a computer shop located on Main Regal Chowk, Saddar, received a call from unknown number, with the man on the other end demanding Rs 200,000.
“I received a call some days ago by a man who demanded Rs 200,000 monthly. He threatened to kill me if the amount was not paid to them,” he said. “After these life threats, I preferred to shut shop and have been facing huge financial losses since the past one-and-a-half months.”
