Karachi News


DAWN/The News International, KARACHI	1 April 2008, Tuesday, 23 Rabiul Awal 1429

www.karachipage.com (click on underlined key-words/dates to get more details)
No decision on MQM’s inclusion in Sindh govt, says Qaim
Muttahida man killed
3 political activists of ST and MQM-H killed (more)
Teasing of girl leads to APMSO-PSF clash (more)
KU professor beaten up by Rangers (more)
Dacoits killed
2 dead as speeding bus crashes into donkey cart, bike and truck
Arrest of carlifter helps ACLU bust gang
Pir Mazharul Haq acquitted (more)
MQM, Q-League rigged polls in Karachi, Balochistan: JUI (more)
24-member federal cabinet takes oath (more)
Only facade of FIA building to be razed (more)
3 policemen hurt in Swat attack (more)
‘Tanker mafia’ behind Karachi’s water woes (more)
Rs54 billion loans written off in 2002, SBP tells SC (more)
No decision on MQM’s inclusion in Sindh govt, says Qaim
KHAIRPUR: PPP Sindh chief and chief minister-nominated Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Monday said the party co-chairman would very soon hold a meeting with the MQM representatives.

Talking to The News, he termed the reservations of the PML-N on a coalition government with the MQM in Sindh premature, saying that the PPP had not yet decided to make a coalition government with the MQM in Sindh.

He said there was complete harmony between the PPP parliamentarians, adding the Sindh parliamentarians had hailed the 100-day programme of Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani. Trade and students unions have been restored by the prime minister according to the 1973 Constitution, Qaim said.

For overcoming the power crisis, he said, it was decided to carry out the construction of new thermal power stations for generating energy. He added that the Thar Coal Energy Project would be started as soon as possible.

Qaim said the PPP was not involved in the registration of cases against Ghous Bakhsh Mahar and his son, adding that the PPP had not yet formed the Sindh government and the cases were registered by the caretaker government. The PPP would never adopt the path to political victimisation, he said. Qaim said the Sindh cabinet would be formed with a consensus. He said he had recommended the prime minister to announce a gazetted holiday on April 4.

Muttahida man killed

Sardar Shah was shot dead in Mominabad police limits. The deceased was the General Councillor of Union Council-1 and belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). According to eyewitnesses, the deceased was sitting in his office situated in Sector-D when unidentified armed men, riding on a motorcycle, came and sprayed bullets on Shah and fled.The police said that the deceased was a resident of Fareed Colony. He leaves behind a widow and three children.

3 political activists of ST and MQM-H killed

The Sector and Unit Incharges of the Sunni Tehrikh (ST) were shot dead by unidentified armed men in Pak Colony and Rizvia police limits. Two activists belonging to Mohajir Qaumi Movement (H) were shot dead in different areas.

After the three political deaths, the Northern Bypass was blocked, while incidents of aerial firing were reported in Landhi, Korangi and SITE Towns. The situation in these localities was tense.

The tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of Faizan Qadri, ST Sector Incharge, and Anees Qadri, Unit Incharge of ST, were found from Pak Colony and Rizvia police limits. According to eyewitnesses, on the night between Sunday and Monday, deceased Faizan was sitting outside his house situated in Hasrat Mohani Colony when unidentified armed men in a car kidnapped them and fled. The same happened to Anees who was in Asif Colony.

The Pak Colony police said that they received information that a dead body was lying near Ajab Khan Hydrant. They rushed to the spot and shifted it to the hospital which was later identified as Anees Qadri belonging to the ST.

The deceased was working with a hosiery firm. A case was reported at the police station.

Another badly tortured body was found from No 1 Rizvia police limits. Unidentified men, after torturing him, sprayed his body with bullets and threw him within the aforementioned police station’s limits. The deceased was later identified as Faizan Qadri, Sector Incharge of the ST in Pak Colony sector.

The deceased was working with a marble firm and leaves behind a widow and two children. Further probe is underway. Protestors blocked the Northern Bypass and launched their protest and fired in the air in SITE Town and forcefully closed shops.

In a separate incident, Saleem Warsi, a Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi activist, was shot dead in Landhi police limits. According to the eyewitnesses, the deceased was sitting in his speaker repairing shop, situated in Babar Market, and was busy in his work.

They added that, suddenly, two armed men, riding on a motorcycle, came to his shop and sprayed bullets on Saleem and fled. Saleem died on the spot. Later, the area police shifted the deceased to the hospital.

The police said that the deceased was the resident of Landhi-3 1/2, and leaves behind a widow and three children and was an activist of Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi Unit-87. Gul Sher, another activist of the MQM (H) was shot dead, while his friend, Zeeshan, was injured in the Orangi Town police limit. The police said that the incident was reported in Shah Faisal Mohallah. Abbas Mehmood, 18, was shot dead in the Ferozeabad police limits. The deceasedís friend Obaid, said that they were the resident of Police Line Saddar and student of Islamia College.

Teasing of girl leads to APMSO-PSF clash

Activists from two rival students’ groups, the All-Pakistan Muttahida Student Organisation (APMSO) and the Peoples Student Federation (PSF) clashed Monday morning near the Geology department at the University of Karachi (KU). Seven activists were injured before security within the campus at all entry points was tightened and a heavy contingency of Rangers personnel was deployed to bring the situation under control.

The injured activists were shifted to a hospital after being handed over to officials from the Mobina Town police station. SHO Mobina Town, sub-inspector Shoaib Qureshi, said that students from the Geology department had gone for a picnic on Sunday where a PSF activist, Bisharat, had allegedly teased and harassed a girl. An APMSO activist, Muneeb, reportedly tried to stop him.

On Monday, Bisharat brought in other PSF activists and started beating up Muneeb. Meanwhile, activists belonging to the APMSO also rushed into the fray. A clash ensued, and Bisharat, Sohail, Masood and Imran from the PSF were injured, as were Feroz, Asif and Aslam from the APMSO. An FIR was lodged at the Mobina Town police station.

KU professor beaten up by Rangers

A professor of the University of Karachi (KU) was beaten up by the personnel of the Rangers at the gate of the varsity for not showing his identity. The Rangers personnel were quarter guards at their head quarters.

On Monday, soon after a clash between the two student political groups, it was reported that some Rangers personnel misbehaved and manhandled a University teacher, Professor Riaz Ahmed. The professor, who teaches Applied Physics at the KU, was seriously injured and has been admitted to the hospital with severe head injuries.

On receiving information of the incident, KU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqi, brought the incident to the notice of the Rangers’ high ups and personally visited the spot along with the Deans and some other senior teachers.

The Vice-Chancellor strongly condemned the unfortunate incident and called the Rangers’ commandant in his office and asked him to take immediate action against those responsible for manhandling the teacher and to ensure that such incidents do not recur. He made it clear that he and the University Administration would not tolerate any incident of misbehaviour with any teacher. He also ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident.

The Vice-Chancellor also met the President, Secretary and other office-bearers of the Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) and assured them that exemplary punishment would be awarded to those responsible.

The wife of Professor Riaz said that her husband was stopped at the main gate of the KU which was closed. She says the Rangers misbehaved with her husband and thrashed him using a baton causing him serious head injuries.

The KUTS has announced to boycott classes on Tuesday (today) and has convened a general body meeting of the teachers to devise a future line of action. Captain Fazal of Rangers Sindh, commenting on the incident, said that a clash occurred between two student political organisations at the KU. As a result of that clash, the KU Administration directed the Rangers personnel to take strict measures at the University gates in order to preempt the entry of armed gangsters into the KU premises.

He added that the Rangers immediately took measures at the gate. In the meantime, a person driving a car came near the gate and tried to forcibly rush in. The Rangers personnel tried to stop him, but the person sitting in a car was bent upon crossing the barricades. Capt. Fazl maintained that he did not reveal his identity as a professor but kept on insisting that he would cross the gate at all cost.

He further stated that, at this moment, a minor scuffle occurred upon which the Rangers’ officials rushed to the site and controlled the situation. However, the Rangers authorities have taken strict notice of the incident and constituted a high level committee that will look into the matter and take strict action against those responsible.

Dacoits killed

A police party, patrolling in Pakistan Bazaar area, spotted a suspicious taxi with three occupants. They ordered the taxi to stop which, however, tried to speed off. The police party chased them but came under fire from the suspects. The police retaliated killing two of the occupants while the third one was arrested. The bodies were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and, according to the MLO, the deceased were identified as Azmat (25) and Tariq (27). SHO, Pakistan Bazaar, Mohammed Tariq Malik, said that the arrested bandit was identified as Amir and, after a shootout, the police recovered three TT pistols and five snatched cellphones. A case was registered at the police station.

2 dead as speeding bus crashes into donkey cart, bike and truck

A speeding public bus crashed into a donkey cart and then a motorbike on Monday, before colliding with a truck near the Qayyumabad Bridge. Two people (indentified as 28-year-old Naseeruddin and 25-year-old Gul Sher) died, and dozens were injured in the pileup which took place within the jurisdiction of the Korangi police station.

Eyewitnesses said that a speeding bus of route F-11 was being driven recklessly when it crashed into a donkey cart right after it crossed the Qayyumabad Bridge. It then went on to hit a motorbike. Meanwhile, a speeding loader truck coming from the Korangi side collided with the bus and the latter overturned.

Moans from those injured filled the air, and passersby immediately started the rescue operation. Ambulances reached the spot, and started shifting the victims to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

Residents of the area maintain that accidents in the vicinity of the bridge are routine, because even though the government has constructed the bridge and the road at the Korangi Crossing, it had not installed streetlights at the Korangi Nadi Road. The area becomes totally dark at night, leading to accidents almost daily.

A medico-legal officer (MLO) at the JPMC said that three of those injured were identified as Ahmed Khan, Riaz and Atif. The rest of those who had been brought in were critically injured and had not been identified yet.

Ahmed Khan said that he was a resident of Landhi and was returning home from work. He had boarded the bus at Tariq Road, and the driver had been reckless since the beginning. He corroborated the rest of the eyewitnesses’ reports.

The police have meanwhile impounded the vehicles and are conducting an inquiry into the

incident. —SBP

ImtiaZ Ali Adds: The injured were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where one injured succumbed to injuries during treatment while another injured was pronounced dead on arrival. The deceased were identified as Gulsher and Naeemuddin.

Doctors at the JPMC told The News that nine injured, two of them in critical condition, were brought to the hospital.

Ahmed Khan Baloch, who got injured in the incident and was admitted to the hospital, said that he along with other passengers was travelling on the roof a bus, F-11, when the bus collided head-on with a speeding vehicle coming from the opposite direction near the Korangi Crossing.

He said that after the collision, the bus in which he was travelling turned turtle and he fell off the bus and struck the other vehicle. He said that he fell unconscious after the accident. He said that he and other passengers ascended the roof of the bus as it was full to the brim with passengers and many of whom were standing on foot board.

Arrest of carlifter helps ACLU bust gang

The staff of the Anti-Car Lifting Unit (ACLU) rounded six car lifters during raids at various localities of the city and recovered 13 vehicles.

SSP, ACLU, Khurram Waris, said that information was received that a wanted car lifter, Mohammed Yaqoob, was present in Yousuf Goth, in the Surjani police jurisdiction. He directed DSP Irfan Zaman to conduct a raid. The police party of ACLU, conducted a raid and arrested M Yaqoob and recovered a government vehicle (BD-6219). During interrogation, it was discovered that the accused snatched a jeep from the Sharea Faisal police limits from an officer of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). The accused used to snatch vehicles from Karachi and transport them to a buyer in Balochistan. In another raid, the ACLU staff, arrested Zubair and Ali Abid, wanted motorcycle lifters, and recovered a motorcycle and a pistol.

SSP Waris said that the accused arrested were wanted car/motorcycle lifters, while accused Zubair was arrested by the Saudabad and Orangi Town police and was jailed for his crime. Currently, he was on bail and had again started criminal activities.

Two more car lifters were arrested from the Lyari Railway Station area, who were identified as Irshaad and M Yousuf, and recovered a car and a motorcycle. The accused had links with Zubair’s gang and, after snatching vehicles, they sold them to buyers in Quetta.

Another motorcycle lifters’ gang was busted in the Nazimabad area. The ACLU staff arrested Saien Chand alias Guddu with a pistol and a motorcycle. Nine more vehicles were recovered on their pointation.

Pir Mazharul Haq acquitted

The Accountability Court on Monday acquitted PPP legislator Pir Mazharul Haq in two corruption cases due to lack of evidence.

Mazharul Haq was being tried for the alleged commercialisation of amenity plots and the transfer of land in violation of rules and regulations as provincial and town planning minister in the 90s. Filing an acquittal application, the petitioner’s counsel Shahadat Awan submitted that his client was falsely implicated in the cases by the then Sindh Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi.

He contended that the basic allotment of land was in fact made during the tenure of the then Chief Minister Jam Sadiq Ali’s government and that his client had nothing to do with the said allotments. He said that other government officials who were named as co-accused in the said cases were already acquitted by the court of law as the prosecution had failed to prove the charges.

MQM, Q-League rigged polls in Karachi, Balochistan: JUI

NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: The February elections were not free, fair and transparent as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) rigged the polls in Karachi while the PML-Q in Balochistan.

JUI Senator Dr Khalid Mahmood Soomro said this while addressing a press conference here on Monday. ìThe only thing laudable in this election was that the Army was not directly involved in rigging. However, the credit of this does not go to President Musharraf but to General Kayani, who decided that the Army would remain away from the civilian matters,î Dr Soomro observed.

ìWe wanted to sit in the opposition but the PPPP had forced us to join the government and we did so because our 17 demands, including the implementation of Quríaan and Sunnah, were accepted,î the JUI leader said.

He said the MMA has nearly broken down due to the adamant behaviour of Qazi Hussain Ahmad. If the Jamaat-e-Islami accepts its mistakes, then other parties of the alliance can make it active again, he added.

He said the JUI, as a single religious party, secured 14 seats in the NWFP, 10 in Balochistan and 10 in the National Assembly. ìWe have been defeated on 22 seats in the NWFP with a margin of less than 100 votes due to the negative behaviour of Jamaat-e-Islami."

24-member federal cabinet takes oath

ISLAMABAD: In a tense atmosphere President Pervez Musharraf on Monday administered oath to 24 members of the federal cabinet.

In an unprecedented move, the PML-N ministers took oath by wearing black armbands as a mark of protest against the president. They registered their protest yet again when they boycotted the tea party arranged at the Aiwan-e-Sadr for the guests.

However, in sharp contrast to the PML-N move, other members of the cabinet belonging to the PPP, JUI-F, ANP and Fata showed no sign of protest. Top sources say attempts to dissuade the PML-N ministers from protesting by wearing black armbands proved futile.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, however, was found comfortably seated with the president, who had to face some embarrassing moments twice within a few days. Earlier in the week, he was confronted with slogans of “Jeay Bhutto” and “Zinda Hai, BB Zinda Hai” at the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister.

No leader from the PML-Q and the MQM attended the ceremony. Eleven federal ministers are from the Pakistan People’s Party of Asif Ali Zardari, nine from the PML-N of Nawaz Sharif, two from the Awami National Party (ANP) and one each from the JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Fata.

Though most of the ministers hail from the majority province Punjab, the coalition leaders found nothing strange in the arrangement, as all these ministers are leading members of their respective parties.

Seasoned campaigner and senior PML-N leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan, who has been named senior minister, will be in charge of communications with additional charge of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

Following is the list of ministers with their portfolios:

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Senior Minister, (Communications, additional charge: Food, Agriculture and Livestock)
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (Commerce)
Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (Defence)
Rana Tanveer Hussain (Defence Production)
Ahsan Iqbal (Education, additional charge: Minorities)
Hameedullah Jan Afridi (Environment)
Muhammad Ishaq Dar (Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics)
Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi (Foreign Affairs)
Haji Rehmatullah Kakar (Housing and Works)
Sherry Rehman (Information and Broadcasting)
Qamar Zaman Kaira (Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas)
Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah (Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis)
Farooq H. Naik (Law and Justice)
Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour (Local Government and Rural Development)
Nazar Muhammad Gondal (Narcotics Control)
Khawja Asif (Petroleum and Natural Resources, additional charge: Sport)
Mir Hamayoon Aziz Kurd (Population Welfare)
Syed Naveed Qamar (Ports and Shipping, additional charge: Privatization and Investment)
Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan (Railways)
Tehmina Daultana (Culture)
Nawabzada Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti (Social Welfare and Special Education)
Najmuddin Khan (States and Frontier Regions)
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (Water and Power)
Khawaja Saad Rafique (Youth Affairs, additional charge: Science and Technology).
Rehman Malik will be Advisor on Interior.

The distribution of ministries and portfolios was finalised by a committee and finally approved by Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The PPP got some important ministries such as Defence, Foreign Affairs, Information, Water and Power, Kashmir and Northern Areas, Narcotics, Port and Shipping, Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis.

However, Finance, Commerce, Communications, Petroleum, Defence Production, Food and Agriculture, Education and Youth Affairs, and Railways went to the PML-N. The ANP bagged Social Welfare and Special Education and Local Government, the JUI-F Housing and Works, while Fata’s Hameedullah Jan Afridi got Environment.

It is expected that the second batch of ministers would be inducted sooner rather than later, as the prime minister has announced an ambitious 100-day programme whose implementation requires a full-strength cabinet.

Only facade of FIA building to be razed

LAHORE, March 31: Only the front portion of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) eight-storey building on Temple Road will be demolished.

The agency’s building had badly been damaged when two suicide bombers had run a mini-truck loaded with a huge quantity of explosives into it on March 11.

FIA Director-General Tariq Pervaiz told Dawn on Monday that the Public Works Department after a survey had proposed the demolition of building’s front portion and the repair of its rear. He said some staff would start working at the rear portion once the repair work was completed.

The agency had urged federal and provincial governments to provide a building where it could house its offices till the completion of its new building on the Temple Road by June, he said.

3 policemen hurt in Swat attack

MINGORA: A remote-controlled bomb attack at a police mobile van left four people, including three policemen, critically injured at the Ningolai area here on Monday.

The Kanju police sealed the area on a tip-off of the presence of a roadside bomb. The bomb disposal squad was called in, which defused the bomb. Later, the police carried out a search operation and arrested six suspects.

While the accused were being shifted to a police post in the police mobile van, some miscreants ambushed the vehicle at the Dherai area with a remote-controlled device. Head constable Muhammad Ashraf, constable Ali Azam, driver Mukhtiar and one Rahimullah were injured as a result of the blast.

After the explosion, the bomb disposal squad reached the spot and defused another bomb. The sound of explosion was so severe that it shattered the windowpanes of the nearby buildings.

Meanwhile, the security forces and police apprehended three suspected militants during the search operation at the Dheri and Koza Bhanda areas in the Swat district, official sources said on Monday. The security agencies, after the bomb attack on the police van, sealed the areas and arrested the suspects following a two-hour long search operation.

‘Tanker mafia’ behind Karachi’s water woes

KARACHI, March 31: Recently undertaken research has revealed that Karachi’s water tanker mafia, which generates an estimated Rs49.6 billion annually, siphons off over 272mgd — or 41% — of the water from the city’s bulk distribution system every day and then sells the commodity at exorbitant rates to residents and industries suffering from the water scarcity that is largely caused by the activities of the water tanker mafia itself.

A report authored by Perween Rahman of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) shows that the city is supplied with 695mgd of water, 645mgd from the River Indus and an average of 50mgd from the rain-fed Hub dam supply. Of this, 30mgd are supplied to the steel mills and Port Qasim before the water reaches the main Dhabeji pumping station, so the actual supply of water to the city is 665mgd every day.

However, the city requires a maximum of 601mgd — of Karachi’s 16 million residents, lower and middle-income areas require about 20 gallons per person per day while the needs of the higher income groups, about 20% of the population, are estimated at 35 gallons per person per day; meanwhile, industries require an average of 123mgd and there is an additional requirement of 110mgd for other uses.

This would indicate that sufficient water is supplied to the city every day to meet its needs. However, the reality is that “bulk supply to towns is 293mgd and thus there is a shortfall of between 260 and 308mgd,” says the OPP report. “This shortfall is met through tanker supplies. Karachi’s bulk supply is 665mgd. With 15% wasted due to technical leakages, the available supply comes to 565.25mgd. The gap between the actual supply and the availability is 272.25mgd, which is siphoned off from the bulk distribution and sold through tanker supplies. This operation generates an estimated Rs49.6 billion annually (at the average cost of Rs0.5 per gallon).”

Sneaky tactics
There is an official system in place for water supplies via tankers. The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) maintains nine official hydrants which are managed by the Rangers. The officially sanctioned quantum of water is 13.75mgd, of which 3.42mgd is the quota for gratis supply to water-deficient areas while the rest is meant to be sold at official rates. This water is to be distributed through 13,750 trips made by 1,000-gallon capacity tankers of contracted tanker suppliers. The Rangers are authorised to charge the contractor a fixed amount of Rs44 (4.4 paisas/gallon) per 1,000 gallons of water for residential use and Rs73 (7.3 paisas/gallon) per 1,000 gallons of water for industrial purposes, which is then to be sold at the official rates.