All activity in Lea Market came to a halt on Pakistan Day, as the locals took to the streets to protest the law enforcers’ operation in the troubled Lyari.
The residents were demonstrating on Friday for the fourth consecutive day against the police raid and operation in the stronghold of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The protesters termed the police raids and operation in Lyari a conspiracy against the Baloch people. They burnt tyres and shouted slogans against the police and the government. The people of Lyari demanded the government to immediately stop the ongoing operation and harassment of the innocent people. The demonstrators alleged that the personnel of the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) were invading their privacy by raiding their houses and looting their valuables under the guise of operations. Police said that the residents turned violent and attacked personnel of the LEAs deployed to maintain law and order in the area.
Reportedly, unidentified miscreants hurled hand grenades in the market, compelling the shopkeepers to close their shops. However, no casualty was reported in the attack. Police said that the violent residents damaged public and private properties, including shops and vehicles. In a petrol bomb attack by the angry mob, two vehicles of the LEAs caught fire and were partially damaged, the police added. They said that the protesters also pelted stones on the law enforcers. “The streets of Lyari portrayed the appearance of a battlefield, as the police and protesters exchanged fire,” said a witness. The roads and streets of the area reverberated with gunfire between the personnel of the LEAs and the protesters. Heavy contingents of law enforcers who were called in to control the situation cordoned off the area upon their arrival. They used teargas and aerial firing to disperse the irate locals. The law enforcers also conducted aerial surveillance of the area, and according to sources, a grand operation against criminals and gangsters is expected on Saturday (today). Terming the operation one-sided, the leader of the banned People’s Amn Committee, Zafar Baloch, demanded the federal government to stop harassing the innocent people of Lyari.
“We are not opposing any operation against criminals,” he said. However, he added, the government must launch an operation against criminals and extortionists across Karachi because, according to him, criminals and extortionists are operating all across the metropolitan. Baloch said that the operation was conducted at the behest of some PPP lawmakers. He also demanded President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the PPP co-chairman, to look into the issue. City Town Superintendent of Police Nasir Aftab told Pakistan Today that the police arrested around 25 people, including two notorious gangsters. He said that the detainees would assist the police in apprehending criminals and gangsters.