Are the remnants of Lyari’s gangs trying to pick up the threads?

Three weeks after Lyari gang war’s last kingpin Ghaffar Zikri was killed in a shoot-out with the police, two incidents within the span of seven days have raised the question if the remnants of the gangs of the most troubled town of Karachi are trying to pick up the threads.

In the latest incident, a businessman named Kashif Ashraf received a call from a man who introduced himself as notorious Lyari gang war commander Baba Ladla’s brother. “Hello, Zahid Ladla speaking,” the man said gruffly over the WhatsApp call that originated from an international number. “If you don’t pay me Rs5 million, I’ll kill you.”

Kashif, his brother Tufail and an uncle of theirs were on their way to Jamshed Quarters from the Saddar mobile market in a car. The vehicle was near Peoples Chowrangi at the time the call was received.

Kashif didn’t take the threat seriously, as he believed he’d been pranked, so he disconnected the call: a mistake that proved almost fatal. As soon as the call was disconnected, a motorcycle appeared next to the car and the pillion rider fired shots at the four-wheeler.

Kashif suffered a bullet to the leg, but his brother and uncle were fortunate enough to survive the attack unscathed. Kashif and Tufail are residents of the upmarket DHA. The injured businessman was first taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, from where he was moved to the Aga Khan University Hospital.

SHO Rizwan Patel said that despite firing multiple shots, the suspects didn’t seem like they intended to kill their victims. “They targeted the driver [Kashif]. Apparently, the culprits only wished to terrorise them.”

He said the investigators are yet to ascertain whether the caller was really Zahid Ladla or someone using his name. “Not only the police but different agencies like the Rangers, the AVCC and the CTD have initiated their investigations.”

The Jamshed Quarters police have registered a case of the incident and are making further investigations. They also sent the empty bullet shells of the pistol used in the attack for ballistic cross-matching, while they are trying to trace the suspects through geo-fencing.

This is the second such incident to have occurred in the city in a week: on Friday a shopkeeper was killed and two others were injured when they refused to pay extortion money to gangsters in Lyari’s Nayaabad neighbourhood. Police, however, arrested two of the gangsters involved in the attack.

Insiders believe that Lyari’s remaining criminal elements are desperately looking for a lifeline to keep their activities going. And extortion is one of those rackets. Though the law enforcement agencies have arrested or killed all the kingpins, including Zikri, Uzair Baloch and Baba Ladla, a number of gang war commanders and gangsters are still enjoying their freedom.

They include Faisal Pathan, Wasiullah Lakho, Shahid Rehman (alias Shahid MCB), Shakeel Commando, Sikandar Sikku, Zahid Ladla and Sheraz Zikri. Some of them have left the country while others remain underground.

“There are hundreds of gangsters in Lyari who have, after the end of the gang wars, been busy in various criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom, extortion, drugs and street crime,” said an insider. A senior police officer also admitted that gangsters are still present in Lyari and involved in different criminal activities. “This is a matter of their survival,” said South Zone police chief DIG Javed Alam Odho. “They need to do something to carry on without a kingpin.”

Odho compared the situation to terrorism. “Just like terrorism has not been completely eliminated, Lyari gangs also continue to exist, but on a smaller scale.” The officer said the police are still looking for the gangsters who are at large and carrying out their operations in the city. He claimed that they will be arrested soon.