Land Mafia: One shot dead as MQM allegedly bulldozed a village in Karachi.

Karachi, Oct 3, 2007, bulldozers entered the village Jumma K Goth, bin Qasim town at around 12 noon. They continued demolishing walls till 5pm. First of all the police took position from the rooftop of a nearby poultry farm and fired shells to create harassment, the distressed residents said. It was unexpected action and the people could not imagine why it happened without serving any prior notice against them, they said.

The residents said they have lease documents under the Goth Abad Scheme. The village graveyard, adjacent to demolished homes, was inaugurated by Haji Shafi Jamot, while he was chairman of defunct District Council, Karachi.

Khadim Hussain, a brother of victim Sultan Junejo, who died in the firing, said his brother was at home while the bulldozers started demolishing.

When women and children started screaming, he came out after the hue and cry and asked the officials to stop their action. On this, the police started indiscriminate firing in which he died on the spot while Pervez Abro and Ali Johar received bullet injuries. Sahibzadi, a resident of the area was injured while bulldozers hit the wall of her home.

Q Isa Daudpota, writes in DAWN daily that Juma Kalmati Goth comes under Bin Qasim town. Individuals from the Korangi Township carried out the demolition, which is a stronghold of the ruling MQM party.

After the incident, the nazim of Korangi town, Jan Alam Jamote, vehemently denied that his town office conducted the demolition of the village. However, witnesses identified that the demolition vehicles and police jeeps were marked as originating from Korangi Township.

It is regrettable that the investigation into the killing of Mr Sultan Junejo and those injured by gunshots has not been launched yet. This case also illustrates how easily the police can be arbitrarily mobilised in such an illegal operation, for an ulterior purpose or interest, instead of protecting a citizen’s life and property. Read more

Habitat International coalition writes that residents were taken by surprise with bulldozers and police arriving to evacuate the houses. Read more

Detaile Report by Urban Resourse Centre when the same town was targetted in 2006 click here