KARACHI: As decided by Sindh Apex Committee on Monday, police has started crackdown against the drug peddlers across the city on Tuesday. On the first day of the crackdown against the drug peddlers, police gunned down a commander of the notorious drug dealing gang known as Darwaish Group in an encounter in Old Sabzi Mandi Karachi on Tuesday. Police conducted a targeted operation in Pakhtun Chowk against the drug peddlers associated with the gang war. When law enforcement personnel reached near the suspected criminals’ hideout, they started indiscriminate firing and tried to escape. During the encounter, one of them was killed and few others managed to escape under the cover of darkness. The dead gang war accused was identified as 30-year-old Rana Ahsan alias Wakeel alias Allati . The incident took place at Pakhtun Chowk of Purani (Old) Sabzi Mandi area in which the ring leader of the gang was killed. Police also recovered a Kalashnikov and seven rounds from his possession. He was said to be local commander of drug peddler gang of Darwaish Group and a hardened criminal who was absconding in many ATA related cases of police encounters. IG Sindh spokesperson, Sohail Jokhio told Daily Times that around 7 FIRs were registered against him at Landhi and PIB police stations. Darwaish Group, known to be notorious in the drug peddling, extortion and was also associated with Lyari gang war’s Aman Committee. The group was founded by a Pashto speaking youth Moosa Khan, who was famous with his nickname Darwaish, therefore his gang is known as Darwaish group. He used to sell hashish on a small scale in the Pashtoon neighborhood near Old Sabzi Mandi area, but later, when he joined Lyari gang, Uzair Baloch group, he started operating in the whole of dist East and headed the extortion gang which started demanding money from all businesses in the area and any body who dare to come into their way was brutally torched and even removed from the scene. After the beginning of Karachi operation his group limited its act to just drug trade with the backing of the local Police administration. He used to buy the drugs from the Baloch Mohala, and used to sell them in the Pashtoon neighborhood. He had in fact covered the whole of the grave yard and had set up his den in side it. It is said that he belongs to Mahmud Agency and he has many hotels and restaurants in Islamabad and Murree. It is also been known that he is currently living in Peshawar and has been given a protocol to move around. With the Karachi operation intensifying Darwaish moved first to Kabul and then to Peshawar and handed his operations to his commanders out of which many have been killed during the last couple of months. In the past, two members of a sectarian group, living in the area started working against the drug den and they also managed to involve the local population and held huge rallies against the drug peddling in the area. But later, both were killed. Dawaish’s legacy is ending in the area but the locals demand that he should be brought back and tried for his brutal acts.