KARACHI CRIME: Now this one is too much. Shall there ever be some relief???

[Sabiqoon]

KARACHI: Shock and awe



By Shahid Iqbal


KARACHI, Sept 18: It is not easy to hold someone up at gunpoint on a crowded public bus, but it’s happening more and more often in Karachi – often with tactics that shock you with their brutality and awe with their audacity. The key to success lies in inspiring fear in not only the victim but the witnesses as well.

This I learnt, to my cost, on Monday when at about 1.30pm, I was in a bus making its way slowly along Sharea Faisal, navigating the endless traffic jam that has become a regular feature of one of the city’s busiest roads.

The bus was crowded to capacity and people eagerly eyed every seated passenger in the hope of getting a seat. The man to my left got off the bus and his place was taken by a well-dressed young man in his late 20s.

Without preamble, the man turned to me and commented, apparently casually, that I reminded him of the killer who had murdered his friend in Lines Area and that he had been looking for me.

My heart turned cold with fear but he put me at my ease by saying: “I know you’re not the man who killed our friend.”

The next moment, he became threatening again and leaned down to show me a TT pistol holstered in his sock. Instructing me to refrain from attracting attention, he indicated that the man standing in front of us and another behind my seat were his colleagues, and armed.

By now, I was in the complete grip of dry-mouthed fear.

The man demanded my wallet and cellphone, both of which I handed over. He calmly opened the phone up and returned my SIM card, then riffled through the wallet and took out all the currency, giving me Rs50 for what he called “travelling expenses.”

I was warned that my life depended on keeping quiet about the incident and not approaching the police later. “I need only two minutes to complete the operation,” he assured me, adding that the bus was being followed by his colleagues in a private car. To prove his point, he called his cohort in the car and forced me to talk to him. A voice told me to cooperate with his friends on the bus and I had no option but to agree.

Frozen in a tableau of fear around us were the many other male and female passengers, all of them watching the drama but cowed into passivity. With their eyes upon us, the man subjected me to a body search, either in the search of more cash or to confirm that I was not armed.

Advising me to report my cellphone as lost, the man looked into my eyes and warned that I would never recognise him. He riffled through my wallet again and made a show of studying and memorising the home address recorded on my office ID card. He also found a cheque and told me that we would now go to the bank where I would hand over more cash. Upon being reminded that the banks closed early because of Ramazan, he returned the cheque.

After that, he stood up, shook my hand and disembarked, smiling with satisfaction.

As for the people left on the bus, everybody avoided my eyes and nobody made a single comment. The fear that has been instilled into every citizen prevented these people from trying to stop the crime — it is this fear that makes criminals successful.


(Published on page 12, DAWN, 19/9/2007)

[Vmart]

damnit man...my city is friggin doomed... n no1 friggin cares abt it...friggin shit!!!!.........

[javelin]

Such Apathy and powerlessness

[Non-techie]

Oh! The boldness of such crimes is terrifying!
Why are people/Youth doing that?
I feel sorry for my Karachi brethren. Police and law enforcing agencies have failed miserably. This individual's account represents the true condition prevailing in Pakistan.

[Vmart]

Ya man i feel sorry for my city too...

Mafia disguised as a political party whose name starts with M has ruined my beautiful city...:@

Street crimes, violence, corruption, inflation, bad infrastructure, extensive loadshedding, bad weather...damn kia nahi hai mere sheher mei..

im thinking of migratin 2 lhr...

half my family lives there, n its such an "ALIVE" city...

[Saad Anas]

bitter facts abt khi.....

[Vmart]

hmm ya its sad 2 c tht a city which has given so much to PK in terms of its economic contribution and the fact tht its the largest contributor of revenue to the govt....its a shame to see how its treated...

[Fookie]

Its because the city is literally run by the MQM gang

[Vmart]

urdu speaking thugs...hehe...
waise ur right..i argree..

but this MQM mafia has put such a bad name to the whole urdu speaking community.....the non urdu speaking ppl think tht every urdu speakin person is in some or the other way affiliated to mqm which is sooo absurd...id say, tht they are the most non-representative of our community...:@

[Kursed]

C'mon people don't generalize your tirade against an entire community.

[funxlab]

VMart, I agree with you, people have an idea that Urdu speakers always have some links to MQM which is wrong, & I personally know from my cousin an ex member of MQM, that their members do many things for "FundRaising". Otherwise if someone snatch my cell and I know my phone IMEI & report it then whenever a SIM card of any Pakistani GSM service provider will be inserted then IMEI of that phone will be reported to GSM provider upon registration of that SIM. Registration of SIM means the owner of the SIM card can be traced. If it was issued on fake NIC then all GSM providers have record of who was reseller of that number (who was sold that number in bulk) & at which shop/store that reseller sold that number, and why he sold it on fake NIC if it is a case.

1- People who sell SIM cards on fake NIC or someone else's NIC are responsible in it.
2- People who buy these stolen cell can be traced very easily going backward.

BUT ALL THIS REQUIRES SINCERITY OF OFFICIALS. IF OUR OFFICIALS CAN REACH TO TERRORISTS USING CELL PHONES TO FIRE MISSILES IN ISLAMABAD IN ONLY A DAY WHY THEY CAN'T DO A GRAND OPERATION TO ELIMINATE SUCH "FUNDRAISING" AND STOP MOBILE SNATCHING.

[dany]

Karachi was a wonderful city to live back in the late 90's when MQM was almost non-operational, I personally lived in Karachi for 13 years. But thanks to this military government, the crime rate has rocketed sky high in our only metropolitan city. Until we get rid of this leftist party, peace seems to be a distant reality in the once glorious city of lights.

[jin_baba]

you are all nuts...

do you guys not see the improvement and progress towards becoming a great nation...

PAST: the poor dakoos had no aslah ...all they had were knives and chakoos. they had to endure great dangers to earn a hard living...most of times they were on foot...if caught, they were kept in stinky cells

PRESENT: the dakoos are sophisticated and better equipped to handle any situation. their income levels are high and they are living a healthy life. they now drive latest cars, have access to all range of weapons and cell phones. if caught, they have full protocol with luxury rooms and servants (poolice). they are humble (he gave the man 50 bux didnt he?). they cooperate with internal and external entities (poolice). with latest technology at their disposal and more and more ppl joining the dakoo groups, Pakistan is destined to be a leader in technology.

thnx

[Fookie]

Nawaz Sharif is also responsible for using the MQM against PPP. And by the time he realized it was a msitake...it was too late

[Non-techie]

MQM was the brain child of Zia and it was revived again by Mushraff, military dictators have used these kind of tactics to make themselves more powerful.
MQM and such organisations have cashed the cultural, religious etc differences present between people.

im thinking of migratin 2 lhr...

Lahore is not that safe too, there are many 'semi-terrorist' groups active here.

Otherwise if someone snatch my cell and I know my phone IMEI & report it then whenever a SIM card of any Pakistani GSM service provider will be inserted then IMEI of that phone will be reported to GSM provider upon registration of that SIM. Registration of SIM means the owner of the SIM card can be traced. If it was issued on fake NIC then all GSM providers have record of who was reseller of that number (who was sold that number in bulk) & at which shop/store that reseller sold that number, and why he sold it on fake NIC if it is a case.

Police and concerned personnel are very unhelpful and they do not co-operate.