Karachi News


DAWN/The News International, KARACHI	3 January 2005, Monday, 21 Ziqad 1425

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Muttahida sets up relief camps for tsunami disaster
Water tanker torched after crushing boy
Rangers’ presence in NED vital
Forest-like parks to be developed in Karachi
Sindh govt misleads PM on KCR revival
Protester dies of severe cold in Sui
Ex-MNA, three others gunned down in Lalamusa
FC man killed in clash with Afghan soldiers
Muttahida sets up relief camps for tsunami disaster
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has established relief camps for the collection of funds, medicines, eatables and other relief goods in Karachi to help the victims of tsunami disaster in different affected countries. The Muttahida beside Pakistan is collecting funds in Britain, USA, Canada, South Africa, Belgium and other overseas units world over. The Muttahida has already handed over cheques worth Rs5.85 million for the victims in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Members of the Muttahida Coordination Committee, party MPAs and ministers also visited different relief camps.
Water tanker torched after crushing boy
KARACHI: Tension gripped Manzoor Colony when area residents turned violent and set a water tanker on fire after it crushed a minor boy within the Baloch Colony police jurisdiction on Sunday, police said.

Azeem, 12, and his brother Waseem, 14, residents of Manzoor Colony were going on a bicycle when they reached near Ghizali Road a recklessly driven tanker bumped their bicycle causing serious injuries to both the brothers.

People rushed them to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors pronounced Azeem dead, while Waseem was admitted.

Area residents turned violent and set the tanker on fire after ransacking it and blocked the road by hurling stones on vehicular traffic. Later the police controlled the situation and arrested Abdul Waheed, the errant driver and registered a case against him.

Nadeem, 32, a pedestrian, was crushed to death under the wheels of a locomotive when he was crossing the railway tracks near Landhi railway station. The body was shifted to the JPMC and later placed in the Edhi morgue.

Separately, a shopkeeper was shot dead and a strangulated body was found on Sunday, police said.

Kabeer Ahmed, 38, resident of Machchar Colony, was shot dead when unknown persons fired at him after entering his shop, situated in the same area within the Docks police jurisdiction. His body was shifted to the Civil Hospital.

BODY FOUND: A body of a 30-year-old man was found with noose of rope that was fixed with iron-door of a shop in Panmandi vicinity of Risala police jurisdiction.

Area people informed the police who shifted the body to the Civil Hospital.

The body was placed in the Edhi morgue.

INJURED: Bilal Noor Khan, a passerby, sustained bullet injuries when unknown gunmen intercepted him in Darakhshan police jurisdiction and snatched Rs12,000 and mobile phone and fled after injuring him.

Azeem Fazal, 16, resident of Sector 5-D Landhi, received serious burn injuries when a gas cylinder burst while he was filling the gas in a refrigerator repairing shop.

The injured was rushed to the Civil Hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical.

At least seven persons including two women sustained injuries when a clash sparked between two groups over an occupation of a plot in Sukhkhan police jurisdiction.

Sources in the police said that persons belonging to two groups tried to occupy a piece of land and confronted with each other over claim of ownership and attacked each other with sticks, rods and sharp edged weapons.

Chattan, Ghulam Fatima, Muhammad Yousuf Jat, Muhammad Siddique, Azam Jat, Ibrahim and Haji Mehmood, suffered injuries, sources said. The injured persons were rushed to the JPMC for treatment. However, police have registered two cases against the injured persons.

ARRESTS: The Federal B Industrial Area police on Sunday arrested two drug sellers and claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of heroin powder from their possession.

The arrested persons were identified as Raees Khan and Zahid alias Anwar, who used to sell drugs in Bloc-16 Katchi Aabadi in Federal-B- Industrial Area.

VEHICLES: At least 15 vehicles including eight motorcycles were hijacked from various city areas, police confirmed.

According to police only two motorcycles were snatched at gunpoint, while seven cars and six motorcycles were stolen from different parts of the city. Police claimed to have recovered seven vehicles including four motorbikes.

Rangers’ presence in NED vital

KARACHI: Rangers’ presence imperative for the peaceful academic environment of the NED University of Engineering and Technology Karachi.

In a declaration issued by the administration of the NED, the registrar stated that the presence of Rangers is necessary to ensure the smooth functioning and working of its academic purposes.

According to the declaration, the news about the Rangers occupation of Qasim Hostel is baseless and has nothing to do with reality.

The fact of the matter is that most part of the hostel is under the control of the university administration where services and medical department have been set up, while a portion of it is allotted to the Rangers for their official work by the university.

Rangers are stationed there to maintain law and order situation and keep the academic environment working.

Rangers have never intervened in the administrative affairs of the university, but responds to the call of the university administration when needed.

Forest-like parks to be developed in Karachi

KARACHI, Jan 2: The city government is working on a plan to grow and nurture forest-type parks with an aim of bringing about a climatic change.

This was stated by City Nazim Niamatullah Khan while talking to a 50-member delegation from Swabi district, NWFP, at Civic Centre here on Sunday.

The delegation comprised nazim, naib nazim and councillors of the district and included six women. The delegation, led by Liaquat Ahmed Khan, is on a study tour to the metropolis.

"The CDGK has already planted 1,000 date trees along Sharea Faisal alone whereas a large number of trees have been planted at major traffic intersections, such as Old Exhibition, Aisha Manzil, Water Pump and Sir Shah Mohammad Suleiman Road,'' Mr Khan pointed out, adding that more trees were being planted at other intersections and along major thoroughfares.

Referring to the city government's efforts to resolve pressing problems, the city nazim told the delegation that the CDGK, under its Urban Transport Scheme, had already introduced more than 250 jumbo-sized CNG buses which were plying on various routes. Another 200 such buses would be brought in over the next two months, he added.

Apprising the delegation of the development works being undertaken in the city, Niamatullah Khan pointed out that 16 major roads were being constructed simultaneously whereas the construction work for the city's first underpass at Gharibabad would begin shortly.

He said that with the construction of the FTC and Shah Faisal Colony flyovers, not only the flow of traffic on Sharea Faisal and link roads had been streamlined, but motorists had also been saved from unnecessary delays and loss of fuel.

About the under-construction Shahrah-i-Quiadeen flyover, he said that the work on this project was progressing satisfactorily and it would be opened for vehicular traffic next month. Besides, more flyovers would be built in Landhi, Korangi and at Hino Chowk under the Tameer-i-Karachi Programme, he said, adding that a bypass had been planned at Sharea Faisal-Karsaz Road (Ibrahim Rahimtoola Road) intersection.

Commenting on the law and order in the city, the nazim said that people should differentiate between a crime and an act of terrorism. He, however, pointed out that the law and order in this city was far better than in most of the world's major cities.

Replying to a question about the level of corruption in the CDGK, he said that he had been fighting against this menace since he became the city nazim. As a result, he said, corruption in various CDGK departments had declined to some extent.

Mentioning that the CDGK had not only got Shah Faisal flyover completed much before the deadline, but also saved Rs90 million in its cost, Mr Khan said that he had been striving hard to banish corruption in all the departments under his control.

Dispelling the impression that 'Karachi is a city of wealthy people', he said that as matter of fact, there were more than 538 katchi abadis spread across the metropolis.

He also informed the delegation that rate of the city's population growth was five per cent, as against the 2.4 per cent of other cities. As such, he said, the city required more funds for development work.

Referring to the criticizm of his foreign tours, he clarified that not a single penny was drawn from the CDGK funds for his foreign visits. Lauding the Niamatullah Khan's efforts towards massive development and undertaking mega projects, the delegation members remarked that they had observed a marked improvement in the conditions across the city. Nazim of Keamari Town Zulfiqar Younus was also present on the occasion.

Sindh govt misleads PM on KCR revival

KARACHI, Jan 2: Sindh government has allegedly planned to run a local train on a portion of already operative main railway line, contrary to the assurance given to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz about the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway operations by Jan 15, well-placed sources said here on Saturday.

The sources said that the provincial government had been planning to operate a local train service from Drigh Colony railway station to Mere weather Tower (City Station) instead of using the KCR infrastructure.

They said that the Sindh transport minister and officials of the city and provincial transport departments held successive meetings of the Task Force, formed by the prime minister.

The prime minister had directed the Task Force to prepare an action plan to revive the KCR service as soon as possible. The Sindh government, in a meeting of the Task Force, chaired by the state minister for Railways, Ishaque Khakwani, on Nov 19, submitted the action plan apprising the meeting that the KCR operations would be revived by the said date, with an estimated cost of Rs6 billion.

Besides Mr Khakwani, Sindh Transport Minister Adil Siddiqui and EDO (Transport) of the city government are the members of the Task Force formed by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz with directives to revive the KCR operation as soon as possible.

The official sources said that the revitalization of the KCR service needed funds, besides improvement in the entire network. They added that without upgrading the existing system, the circular railway could not be run, as most of its track had been encroached upon, and the railway line had been damaged at different places.

They said that it was impossible to revive the KCR operation on the existing tracks by Jan 15. However, the operation of the local train would begin by the stipulated date, as a part of the KCR.

The sources said that the KCR tracks were encroached upon with a mala fide intention by builders' mafia, who wanted the KCR project to be dropped, so that they could utilize the precious land for building high-rises.

Protester dies of severe cold in Sui

QUETTA, Jan 2: A worker died of severe cold in a protest camp in Sui area of Dera Bugti district on Saturday night.

According to reports reaching here, Pir Jan Bugti was among the protesters who had been observing strike and staging protest at various gates of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) purification plant for the last eight months in support of their demands.

"Pir Jan lost his life last night in the protesting camp due to severe cold," the President of the Fireman Association of the PPL, Marri Khan Bugti, said at a press conference in Dera Bugti on Sunday.

He announced a three-day mourning for the death of Pir Jan. He criticized the attitude of the PPL administration for not paying any heed to the demands of protesting employees.

Meanwhile, work charge employees of Uch gas field staged a protest rally in Uch on Sunday and marched through the main streets of the township in support of their demands. They chanted slogans against the officials of the Oil and Gas Development Corporation for not accepting their just demands.

Ex-MNA, three others gunned down in Lalamusa

LALAMUSA: Ex-MNA Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah, his driver and two body guards were shot dead while another was shot and injured by six unidentified car riders here on Sunday afternoon.

According to report, ex-MNA of PML Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah of Qulewal Syedan his driver, Ashram resident of Lalamusa, his bodyguards Muhammad Khan of Dhakranwali and Muhammad Iqbal resident of Azam Nagar were shot dead while one bodyguard were shot and injured by six unidentified car riders on Sunday afternoon.

Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah was on way home to Qulewal Syedan in a car along with his bodyguards. He was sitting on front seat while his driver Ashraf was driving the car. Two body guards Iqbal of Azam Nagar and Muhammad Khan of Dhakran Wali were driving a land cruiser chasing him for security.

When they reached near Galliaan Mor, the distance of 3 kilometre form here in the area of Sadr police station at 4.30 pm at afternoon on Sunday. Suddenly four car riders came out of a car, opened the burst of Kalashnikovs killing four persons on the spot including ex-MNA Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah, Ashraf driver, Muhammad Khan of Dhakaranwala and Iqbal of Azam Nagar. When the bodyguards of late Manzoor Hussain, who were in their land cruisers exchanged fire with the killers, they shot and injured them also.

Bodies were shifted to THQ Kharian for autopsy while the injured was shifted to CMH Kharian Cantt. It is worth-mentioning that his one and only son Syed Abbas Hussain Shah was also shot dead some 12 years ago. Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah for the first time became Councillor in 1966. He was elected MNA in 1983 after he defeated Safdar Murral by round about 500 votes. Second time he defeated late MNA Haji Asghar Kaira in 1990 and last time, he became MNA in 1997 on PML-N ticket. Now he was an associate of Chaudhris of Gujrat and also led the caravan form Lalamusa to welcome President Pervaiz Musharraf on January 1.