KARACHI, July 4: A large contingent of the police assisted by the Rangers moved into strife-torn Lyari on Friday evening in an effort to establish the lost writ of the government in the locality.

The gang war between the groups of Rehman Dakait and Arshad Pappu has been raging in the area for years and has cost hundreds of lives. Scores of innocent passers-by and bystanders have been caught in the crossfire between the warring criminal gangs. Subsequently, several parts of Lyari have virtually turned into no-go areas.

“It’s not a one-day exercise. Basically, it’s a well-planned deployment, which will remain in place till the objectives are achieved,” Provincial Police Officer Sindh Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak told Dawn.

Last week during a meeting at the Sindh Chief Minister’s House, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik had given the green signal for the operation against gangsters in Lyari and criminals in the interior of Sindh.

Explaining the strategy, the Sindh PPO told Dawn that the police are being deployed in the strife-torn area by creating new police posts at important intersections and subsequently, in the peripheral areas.

“Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and police mobiles are being used in the deployment,” he added.

“Our objective is to restrict and arrest the criminal elements. The police presence will remain in the area till we achieve our target,” PPO Khattak said.

He said that an approximately 700-strong police force is being deployed in the area along with the Rangers. “It’s an integrated plan with the Rangers,” the PPO said.

In May, the police had launched an operation by cordoning the Ali Mohammad Mohallah, during which two gangsters were killed. However, the siege was lifted the next day. Over 100 policemen had taken part in that operation.

Later, the police was criticized by certain quarters for launching the operation only against Ghaffar Zikri, who is the front-man of Arshad Pappu.

Asked if the operation is directed against any particular group, the PPO Sindh said that all the criminal elements present in Lyari would be dealt with even-handedly.

‘Rangers to play active role’

A press statement issued by the Pakistan Rangers Sindh said that in accordance with the federal government’s directives, the Rangers would take an active role in order to assist the police in a grand operation against miscreants and terrorists in violence-plagued Lyari.

In this connection, the DG Rangers, Major-General Liaquat Ali, issued the necessary directives to the Rangers officials concerned to formulate a viable strategy with the police.

The Rangers contingent, along with the police, will formulate a comprehensive operational plan keeping in view the densely populated locality.

The DG Rangers also urged people to extend all possible cooperation with the law enforcement agencies in order to eliminate the criminal elements from Lyari, the statement added.

SP Lyari Raja Umar Khattab said that nine pickets have been set up in the most sensitive areas, which include Eidhu Lane, Ali Mohammad Mohallah and Tannery Road. Nine other pickets have been set up in the rest of Lyari.

“In the next phase, when normalcy returns to the area and shops reopen, the police and Rangers will act against the criminal elements,” the SP explained.

Till the filing of this story, no resistance was reported from either of the two gangs as the police and Rangers were busy in their deployment.