- Suspects ran extortion racket in different areas of Karachi: SSP
- They recover weapons, ammunition, mobile phones and gold ornaments: police
- The Pakistani Sunni Tehreek condemns the raid, alleging improper use of force.
KARACHI: Karachi Police arrested several suspects, including ‘extortionists’, in a raid conducted at Qadri House in Karachi’s Nazimabad late on Saturday night.
Dr Imran Khan, head of Karachi’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU), said Jawad Qadri and Mullah Shahzeb were among several suspects arrested. However, he clarified that Pakistan Tehreek’s Sunni chief Sarwat Ijaz Qadri was not arrested. The news reported.
The SSP stated that the arrested suspects were wanted by the police in several cases as they were “running an extortion ring.” He said the arrests were made based on information provided by an already captured suspect named Rehan.
SSP Imran Khan said Rehan, who was involved in incidents of extortion and dismissals in Jamshed Quarters, had been arrested earlier. Acting on their information, the police carried out a raid at Qadri House and arrested several suspects, including Jawad Qadri alias Khawaja and Shahzeb Mullah.
According to a police official, the arrested suspects were in touch with the Samad Kathiawadi group. A large quantity of arms, ammunition, mobile phones and gold ornaments were recovered from his possession. It is also alleged that the suspects had criminal records. More research is being done.
Meanwhile, the Sunni Pakistani Tehreek strongly condemned the police raid on Qadri House. Its central spokesperson stated that “the voice of truth cannot be suppressed through the use of force.”
He alleged that Qadri House’s security cameras were deliberately damaged to conceal police actions and claimed that officials and workers of Karachi Division were arrested during the raid.
SSP Imran Khan further claimed that 21 accused had been arrested over the past week. He added that there were five police confrontations between the SIU and the suspects, during which two extortionists and three other criminals were arrested and injured.
He said the arrests were part of an ongoing crackdown on extortionists and their networks operated from abroad. Cases of extortion have been registered at Sukhun, Surjani, Tipu Sultan and Jamshed Quarters police stations.
SSP Khan also said that during the operation drug peddlers were arrested and nine kilograms of hashish and heroin were recovered from them.
Additionally, four members of a gang involved in street crimes were arrested. He said the SIU/CIA continues to actively participate in operations against extortionists and other criminals.
