Malik Mansha Khokhar alias Mansha Bomb, a Johar Town local notorious for his ‘unlawful’ activities, has accused the local police of robbing 35 tolas of gold, millions of rupees in cash and other valuables in an illegal raid at his ‘house’.
While Mansha claims that he has been “working for the locals’ rights” which were being usurped by the police and accuses police of holding a grudge against him for organising protests against them, the locals plead that they have to join the protests on Mansha’s call in order to save their lives.
Another such anti-police protest was organised by Mansha on Monday following a fire at Hakim Chowk Johar Town which gutted 30 auction houses on Saturday night, burning valuables worth millions of rupees.
Mansha gathered a number of people from the area to protest against police’s alleged resistance against filing an FIR of the fire incident that took place on Saturday. Just a day after the protest, Mansha’s claim against police’s “robbery” surfaced.
While Mansha has appealed to the Punjab chief minister to take action against the police, the local police deny Mansha’s allegations saying that they never raided his house. The police say that Mansha was not even a resident of Johar Town. They said that he runs a ‘dera’ in the area which is an open space for cattle and there was no possibility of the presence of gold and cash at the premises.
The police say that on request of the locals they had registered an FIR against unidentified men for burning down the auction houses.
Police sources told Pakistan Today that several cases of land grabbing were registered against Mansha who worked in partnership with another ‘thug’ Shoki Changar, who until his demise was allegedly involved in more than 40 cases of murder, robbery and land grabbing.
The police claim that Mansha ran a mafia and extorted money from the shopkeepers at Hakim Chowk.
“He collects Rs 10,000 from each auction house for ‘protection’,” claimed a policeman seeking anonymity, adding that it was his sons who set the auction houses on fire.
Sources said that Mansha had ‘connections’ with the area’s political high-ups, owing to which he maneuvered his way out whenever the police caught him.
A local shopkeeper seeking anonymity told Pakistan Today, “We are forced to pay Mansha regularly and join his protests. Who can possibly stand up against such a man when even the police cannot? I need to protect the lives of my family. I cannot afford to say no to Mansha.”
Another local said, “Mansha uses us to register his strength against the police and the government. Whenever he wants something from the police he just makes up a case against them and calls for a protest. And we have to join the protest and chant slogans on Mansha’s will.”
Pakistan Today made repeated attempts to contact Mansha for his version but he remained inaccessible.
