After Rangers gunned down notorious Lyari-based gang leader Baba Ladla, his younger brother Zahid Ladla took over the reins of his gang on Friday, the same day the paramilitary force’s chief visited the neighbourhood and vowed that gangs would not be allowed to resurface there.
In the wee hours of Thursday, Rangers raided a hideout in Phool Patti Lane, Baghdadi, Lyari and after a gun battle that lasted for over half an hour, killed Noor Mohammed alias Baba Ladla and his associates Sikandar, alias Sikoo and Yaseen alias Mama.
Residents and police sources said Baba Ladla’s younger brother Zahid Ladla was seen at his brother’s funeral in Lyari.
They added that Zahid had taken shelter at the den of another notorious gang leader, Ghaffar Zikri, who has left Lyari after the crackdown there and is now hiding in Hub, Balochistan.
Zahid has been provided shelter by Ghaffar Zikri’s younger brother, Shiraz Zikri.
The sources said Ghaffar Zikri had expanded his criminal network in Hub and extorted money from van owners who transported fish there. They added that Ghaffar had supported Zahid as the successor to his brother.
Zahid limps when he walk after he was shot in his leg and fell in a ditch during a clash with the Katchi community a few years ago in Lyari. The sources said Zahid was also searching for the informer who had tipped off the Rangers about his brother’s hideout.
Rangers DG’s visit
Rangers DG Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed visited different areas of Lyari including Nawa Lane, Miran Naka, Gabol Park and Cheel Chowk and met with the paramilitary force’s sector commanders.
He appreciated the performance of the Rangers personnel there and expressed his resolve to ensure that there would be no more violence in Lyari.
He hoped that the residents of Lyari would try their best to maintain peace in the neighbourhood and motivate the youth of the area to engage in positive activities.
Maj Gen Saeed urged the residents to ensure that there would be no more
gang leaders like Uzair Baloch and Baba Ladla emerging in Lyari.
The notorious Baba Ladla
According to details gathered from law enforcement and other agencies, Baba Ladla worked as an agent outside a national identity card registration office and charged between Rs300 and Rs400 per card.
Business was good while he resided in the Dubai Chowk area of the town, but then came his watershed moment in the late 90s: he had a heated argument with a man who had fastened a donkey outside his house.
The argument ended with Ladla stabbing the animal’s owner, who died two days later, and the first-ever police complaint was registered against the man who was yet to become one of the most feared Lyari kingpins.
Ladla sought refuge at the house of Abdul Rehman, alias Dakait, now deceased, and it was then that he started his criminal career by joining his guardian’s gang.
Police sources said that after joining the gang, Baba Ladla started selling drugs, extorting money from businessmen, and kidnapping and murdering people, eventually becoming Dakait’s right-hand man.
After Dakait was killed in a police encounter, Ladla believed he would succeed the deceased, but the gang’s control was handed over to Uzair Baloch, while Baba Ladla remained the commander.
Baloch leading the gang became a bone of contention between the two men, and Ladla started claiming the areas under his rival’s command, giving rise to another gang war in the town, but the Karachi operation forced the two opponents to flee abroad.
While Baloch was arrested by the Rangers last year, Ladla reportedly spent time in Iran, Oman and closer to home, in Pasni. He is believed to have arrived in Karachi less than a month ago.
Baba Ladla has been accused of a variety of crimes over the years. He subjected Mullah Latif to brutal torture and then murdered him on September 1, 2010.
The kingpin and his accomplices attacked a team of law enforcers in Lyari in April 2012 and killed head constable Fayyaz and police constable Tufail. Ladla also tortured and murdered Haji Aslam, his son and three others in Dalmia Society.
Together with Uzair Baloch, he murdered their rival linchpin Arshad Pappu, his younger brother Yasir Arafat and Shera Pathan in Lyari after brutal torture. They also burnt their victims’ bodies.
Ladla kidnapped three Urdu-speaking people in March 2013, tortured them and then murdered one of the abductees while freeing the others.