KARACHI:
A Rangers spokesperson alleged on Sunday that ambulance services of certain welfare organisations, and their officials, were involved in the illicit trade of illegal weapons in the city.
An official of the paramilitary force said that during investigation of convicted criminals arrested a few days earlier, it has been uncovered that “officials and personnel of certain welfare services are involved in smuggling and hiding of illegal weapons across the city”.
Through the statement, the paramilitary force — currently enjoying policing powers in the provincial capital — warned that “direct or indirect involvement in smuggling of arms is a high level crime. All those involved in such illegal practices will be brought to book under the Sindh Arms Act”.
The Rangers official further urged citizens of Karachi to call the Rangers Helpline 1101 in case they observe any such criminal activity.
This revelation adds to the series of ‘confessions’ currently going on after the arrest of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists by Rangers, following a raid at part headquarters Nine Zero a few days earlier.
The paramilitary force had claimed in a statement that Umair Hassan Siddiqui, allegedly involved in killing of 120 people, was a key member of the ‘target-killing’ racket. The activist became part of a team when the MQM decided to carry out killings on ethnic grounds in 2008.
“The meeting was attended by all sector in-charges of the party. The in-charge of the MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui, also attended the meeting, during which directives were issued to expedite killings on ethnic grounds.”
“The suspect has revealed that it was in 2008 when the party decided to expedite killings on ethnic grounds and for that deputy convener of the party Anis Qaimkhani chaired a meeting at Khursheed Memorial Hall,” the Rangers statement said.
Each time an MQM activist `confesses` to murder or extortion, the party disassociates itself from him. And the constant defensive mantra hinges around anti-MQM conspiracies, whether it is the Scotland Yard inquiry of murder and money-laundering in London, or the widely witnessed violence it launched against a pro-Iftikhar Chaudhry rally in Karachi in May 2007 in which 45 people were killed.
