Daily Times

KARACHI: Paramilitary force, Rangers, on Saturday claim to have busted a gang allegedly involved in issuing and selling the arms licences to the public.

The gang consists of Sindh Police personnel and member of a militant wing of a political party. The gang was busted during a joint effort by Rangers and Sindh Police. “The Rangers received a tipped off about a gang involved in issuing fake licenses and selling the illegal weapons in Liaquatabad neighbourhood,” explained a Rangers spokesperson. “This gang has been involved in this business from the last few years.”

Reacting on this information, the Rangers troops arrested a key member of the gang, namely Faizan along with illegal weapons and five fake licenses.

It has been revealed that during initial course of interrogation that this gang is involved in this business, said the spokesperson, adding that later the Sindh Rangers and police arrested at least seven more gang members. The arrested gang members included Sindh Reserve Police’s sub-inspector Omar Daraz Khan, hawaldar Syed Nadir Ali Shah, Hawaldar Syed Shahid Ali of Sindh police’s Special Branch. Besides them, four more members including Junaid, Zuhair Kamal, Saddam Siddiqui and a member of a militant wing of a political party, Kamran Preedy, who has been involved in selling illegal weapons to Hawaldar Nadir Shah despite arresting and imprisonment in jails in several times. Hawaldar Nadir Shah, however, has been involved in smuggling of weapons on the basis of fake licenses from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by air and has also been travelled for at least 35 times. The recovered weapons from the suspects included nine weapons of different calibres including two G3 rifles, 18 magazines if different weapons, hundreds of ammunitions, 140 fake computerised arms licenses including NADRA forms, 233 other fake documents, 75 degrees of matriculation, intermediate and graduation and seven fake driving license. Apart from these, hundreds of fake government stamps including of deputy commissioners of Karachi, Thatta, Nawab Shah, Quetta, Jacobabad. The force also recovered the material and equipment use in making the fake arms licenses including computer, colour printer and lamination machine. Rangers spokesperson said that this gang has been involved in this business from the last at least ten years and issued at least 8000 fake arms licenses, 4000 fake educational degrees, and hundreds of driving licenses and No Objection Certificates from different organisations and has been earned million of rupees. DG Rangers Major General Muhammad Saeed lauded the efforts of Rangers and police for carrying out a successful operation.

Separately, Landhi police also claim to have arrested an alleged target killer belonging to a militant wing of a political party. The accused Saeed Khan Bukht is an ex-in-charge of party’s unit 77, Korangi Sector of Muttahida Qaumi Movement and has been involved in target killing of ASI Nadeem, and constables Arif, Khalil, Asim, Fida and ASI Javed in Landhi. Further investigation was underway.

Published in Daily Times, December 3^rd 2017.