KARACHI: A ‘commander’ of the Lyari gang warfare allegedly involved in targeted killing of, among others, three foreigners in the Hub area of Balochistan was gunned down in an ‘encounter’ in Malir by Rangers in the early hours of Thursday, a spokesperson for the paramilitary force said.

Acting on information, the paramilitary force encircled the hideout in Murad Memon Goth of Malir at around 2am.

On seeing the Rangers’ personnel, the suspects resorted to firing with automatic weapons. Reinforcements were called in by the Rangers and during an intense exchange of fire, one suspect was gunned down while trying to escape in Bachal Goth near Murad Memon Goth. His two accomplices fled taking advantage of darkness, said the Rangers’ official.

The suspect was involved in the murder of three foreigners, attacks on security forces

The spokesperson identified the dead suspect as Ghafoor alias Chhotu, a ‘commander’ of gangsters in the Malir locality.

“He was a close aide of Lyari gang leader Noor Mohammed alias Baba Ladla,” said the Rangers’ spokesperson, adding that the dead suspect had established a reign of terror in the Malir area.

Baba Ladla was killed by Rangers in a ‘shoot-out’ in Lyari in February. Ladla’s two close associates — Sikandar alias Sikku and Mohammad Yaseen alias Mama — were also killed in the encounter.

According to the Rangers, Baba Ladla was a “most wanted” suspect who had been involved in 74 terrorism incidents and other heinous crimes. Another ringleader of Lyari gang warfare was Uzair Jan Baloch, now facing trial in a military court.

“Ghafoor Chhotu was wanted in more than 20 heinous crimes,” said a Rangers’ statement issued to the media.

They included murder of three foreigners, reportedly Chinese nationals, in Hub in 2006. Besides he was also involved in attacks on police and security personnel. Furthermore he had remained involved in extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and other such crimes.

The Rangers claimed to have seized an SMG, a 9mm pistol and a hand grenade from his custody.

The Rangers vowed to continue strict and immediate action against such elements.

Area residents told Dawn that the killed suspect was running a network of gangsters in the Malir locality after the killing of Sohail alias Dada and Tabu. They said that Asif Mithal alias Kana was the main commander of Lyari gang elements in Malir. He had fled abroad after the launch of Rangers-led targeted operation in Karachi in 2013. Around a year ago, Asif alias Kana died mysteriously abroad. Since then, Ghafoor Chhotu had established his network in the Baloch-dominated localities of Malir.

For the last one week, the paramilitary force had accelerated its efforts against gang warfare elements in Malir localities and carried out two actions in Memon Goth and surrounding areas and claimed to have seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

The Rangers had also claimed to have apprehended one suspect some days ago whose identity was not disclosed by the official of the paramilitary force when a statement was issued to the media.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017