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Karachi being used as revenue
generation city for Taliban, claim police officials
By Waqar Bhatti
In the first week of April this year, the Crime Investigation
Department of Karachi police busted a gang of five criminals, who
were allegedly involved in various criminal activities, ranging from
armed attacks on security forces to bank robberies and dacoities and
kidnapping for ransom in Karachi. During interrogation, these five
men, Sarfraz, Faisal, Akbar, Farid and Dur Muhammad Baloch revealed
that they were actually religious militants, belonging to
Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian militant group associated with the
Taliban.
They claimed that they were not “professional criminals”, and were
committing these crimes to meet financial requirements of their
organizations, fighting Pakistani security forces in FATA tribal
area and some other parts of NWFP. This is a trend that is worrying
local security agencies.
At the time of the arrest, CCPO Karachi Wasim Ahmed proudly
presented the case before the media at a press conference at the
Central Police Office (CPO) and said it was a great achievement for
not only the law enforcing agencies but also for the people of
Karachi. “These (criminals) belonging to the tribal areas said there
were Fatwas issued by their religious mentors, sitting in the tribal
areas, allowing them to loot banks and other financial institutions
involved in interest-based transactions “ a senior CID Karachi
official, requesting anonymity told The News.
The official, who has investigated several crimes of kidnapping for
ransom that took place in the city during the past one and half
years, said the investigation revealed startling facts about the
rationale, thinking and modus operandi and activities of the
extremists. “They believe that depriving industrialists of their
money through kidnapping and extortion, robbing banks and convoys
carrying fuel and other goods to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan
is a rightful act” the police official told The News.
He said the arrested extremists said they were entrusted with the
task if generating money from larger cities like Karachi as money
was constantly required to fund the holy war and pay for ammunition
as well as explosives as well as salaries to holy warriors and their
families. In this regard, he cited the name of Qasim Toori, an
activist of Jandullah, who confessed to robbing of a bank for the
same reason. The kidnappers of film producer and distributor Satish
Anand, who was taken to Waziristan by the militants also made a
similar confession. What is worrisome in the Satish Anand case was
the involvement of retired military officers.
“Besides these two cases, there were other instances where it was
found out that extremists and militants kidnapped industrialists or
threatened them of abduction and extorted money, which was later
sent to tribal areas” claimed the police official. He said
involvement of persons and security guards belonging to tribal
areas, especially in the high profile bank robberies in Karachi like
the one at H&H Exchange Company in which over Rs. 140 million were
looted authenticated the suspicions of the investigators.
Even the Sindh Home Minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, who strongly
rejects presence of the Taliban in Karachi and Sindh, admitted at a
meeting thismonth that a few militant elements having association
with Taliban were involved in criminal activities in Karachi.
“There is no evidence that Taliban are present or planning to get
active in Karachi but yes, there instances when law enforcing
agencies detected some criminals having links with the Taliban or
other
extremist groups involved in crimes to generate money” he told a
press conference at CM House earlier this month. When contacted. the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Spokesman in Malakand division,
Haji Muslim Khan rejected these allegations saying it was part of
propaganda against them to defame them. “Those fighting and
struggling for implementation of Shariah can’t do any such
activities as it just the propaganda on the behest of US and British
governments to defame Taliban and religious people in the eyes of
common Pakistanis” he told The News over the phone.
He said those making such allegations should prove their claims
providing evidences otherwise they “would have to answer for their
lies before Almighty.” The Taliban have eradicated criminal gangs
and kidnappers in their controlled areas as they believe in peace
and in value of human lives property of the common people, Muslim
Khan said. Another angle given by Karachi-based trader from FATA,
Abdul Qayyum was that militants fighting in tribal areas and NWFP
were getting funds from Karachi and other major cities of Pakistan
but said they were in fact getting funds from people who originally
belonged to the tribal areas.
“I know that they get funds from Karachi, collected from local
influential and wealthy parties who hail from tribal areas but all
that is done voluntarily” he claimed. Qayyum said that there was no
involvement of militants in criminal activities for generating funds
commenting that actually the criminals from the tribal areas were
committing robberies, dacoities and kidnappings for last couple of
decades but they had nothing to do with the Taliban or other
religious groups.
The
News :
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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