a second consecutive day, MA Jinnah Road-based traders blocked the city’s busiest thoroughfare by lighting bonfires to protest the growing menace of bhatta mafia (extortionists) on Saturday.
Closing down their businesses, traders of the tyre market took to the MA Jinnah Road and following suit, shopkeepers of Urdu Bazaar and auto parts market also joined in the protest against extortion mafia.
The protesters set fire to tyres and blocked the main route for vehicular traffic, causing a massive traffic jam at the trading avenue. They chanted slogans against the law enforcement agencies for their failure in curbing the nuisance of extortionists.
They demanded that the law enforcers arrest the culprits involved in extortion and provide security to the traders. They were of the view that trading activities have been already disrupted due to prolonged power outages and now the extortionists are also creating hurdles. Talking with Pakistan Today, All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) Chairman Atiq Mir said money extortion has become a major problem for traders of Karachi.
He said the AKTI has invited political parties among other stakeholders to resolve this serious issue to continue trading activities in the financial hub. Mir claimed that on Friday morning, around six men armed with pistols and hand grenades arrived on three motorcycles at a shop named MY Traders and returned after handing over a slip to the salesmen. “The slip mentioned a mobile phone number as well as the demand for Rs 1 million and a death threat to the proprietor [if the money was not delivered],” he added. The traders were enraged and took to the streets against bhatta mafia but the police reached the spot and collected all the necessary evidence from the affected party. The law enforcers also convinced the traders to put off their protest, which was called of on Friday. However, the traders again closed their business to record their protest on Saturday.
“The traders gave the parchi [extortion slip] bearing the contact number of the extortionist to the law enforcers, who assured that the culprit will be traced with the help of Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC),” said Mir. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Zone Iqbal Mehmood told Pakistan Today that the police could not find any clue from the slip provided by the traders as CPLC records revealed that the person using the particular mobile number lives in Gujranwala. He said the police are ready to cope up with the menace of extortion, which has resurfaced after a brief lull during the past month. Saddar Town Police Officer has been assigned to probe the incident while the police department has deployed adequate force in the markets for traders’ security.
“Some 150 to 200 police personnel are deployed along the markets at MA Jinnah Road and police pickets established in every market. However, the police department cannot deploy a policeman outside every shop due to shortage of manpower,” said Mehmood. To a question, the DIG responded that traders had their right to protest but the police has the responsibility to request them to end their protest and provide security to the affected traders.
