KARACHI, Sept 29: The police and Rangers in a joint action in Lyari on Sunday arrested a former station house officer of the Baghdadi police station wanted in the Arshad Pappu murder case, officials said.

They described the arrest as a “major breakthrough” insofar the investigation of the case had progressed, which would help reach other suspects of the case in line with court orders.

“We have arrested Javed Baloch, a former SHO of the Baghdadi police station wanted in the Arshad Pappu murder case,” SP of city Faisal Bashir Memon said during a press conference addressed by him along with Sindh Rangers Wing Commander Colonel Qaiser Khalil Khan.

“The arrest has been made through a joint action of the police and Rangers that also led to the recovery of arms from criminals’ hideout. The operation was a targeted one based on specific information.”

He said the Rangers and police were actively engaged in action against criminals and over the past couple of weeks they had rounded up a number of suspects and gangsters that led to a significant decline in crime rate in south district of the city.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Rangers in a statement claimed to have arrested four suspected criminals associated with “major political parties” allegedly involved in extortion racket and drug peddling.

“The Pakistan Rangers, Sindh have conducted a targeted raid in Green City near Marvi Goth,” said the statement. “During the raid four hardened criminals — Shams Khan, Asif Khan, Syed Safdar Ali and Syed Ali Sher — affiliated with major political parties have been arrested.”

The suspects were involved in extortion and drug peddling while the paramilitary force also recovered arms and a huge quantity of heroin from their possession, the statement added.

Similarly, the city police in separate actions arrested more than 180 suspects in raids in different areas of the city.

The suspects were allegedly involved in different crimes ranging from militancy to targeted killings and street crimes to kidnapping for ransom, the police claimed.

“The police have conducted a total of 105 raids,” said a statement issued by the Sindh police. “A total of 183 suspects were arrested and 106 of them included absconders in cases of illegal arms, terrorism, narcotics and kidnapping for ransom.”