close
Tuesday March 19, 2024

Rangers seize hidden weapons ‘belonging to MQM-London’

By Our Correspondent
February 24, 2018

A large cache of weapons believed to hidden by a political party in various parts of the city were found by the paramilitary Rangers force in raids on Friday night.

The spokesman for Sindh Rangers told journalists that based on credible information they carried out raids in Garden, Surjani Town and Baldia Town, and found weapons hidden in empty plots and water storage tanks.

According to him, the weapons belong to the London faction of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. The seized arms include three .222 rifles, an 8mm rifle, two 7mm rifles, a submachine gun, a 12 bore repeater and more than 350 bullets of various calibers.

The spokesperson added that further investigation is underway. Meanwhile, during targeted operations in the city, the Sindh Rangers also took two suspects, including a Lyari gangster, into custody.

According to the paramilitary force’s spokesperson, they conducted an intelligence-based targeted raid in FB Industrial Area and after facing some resistance managed to arrest Mohammed Umair alias Soni. He was shifted to the force’s headquarters for questioning.

The detained suspect, who has been operating a drug den from the locality, is associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London, the spokesperson said, adding they had also recovered a huge cache of narcotics from him. The accused was later handed over to local police for further legal proceedings.

In another raid in Baldia Town, the Rangers arrested Bilawal alias Bilu who belongs to a gang believed to be involved in the Lyari gang war. The accused is involved in drug peddling and other heinous crimes, while narcotics were also seized from him, the official said. Bilawal was later handed over to local police, he added.

Earlier on February 4, the paramilitary force had arrested three politcal activists of the party as well as 14 other suspects in raids conducted across the city on Sunday. Rangers teams conducted intelligence-based raids in Kalakot, North Karachi and Mominabad areas, from where they arrested three suspects said to be workers of the MQM-L and wanted for involvement in target killings, extortion cases, land grabbing and other crimes. The accused were later identified as Mohammed Shahid Shahdab alias Kala Munna, Saleem Akhtar alias Saleem Mughal, and Ameen alias Kaliya.