Extortioners get to grenade attacks

KARACHI: It seems that violence in its most deadliest forms has come to stay in the business hub of Pakistan evident from a recent spate of shooting, looting, and killing which has scared the breath out of its residents.

This time the extortionists have upped the ante by graduating from routine ways of terrorizing people like shooting and wielding weapons to throwing hand grenades at those who won’t submit to their demands. This has put the affluent businessmen of Karachi at the end of their tethers.

Reportedly the city has seen at least four hand grenade attacks in a week's time. With the Eid drawing near armed robbery/waylaying has picked up pace exponentially. Here's a summary of organized crimes committed lately.

According to one account, looters entered a house in North Nazimabad in the guise of labourers and held the occupants hostage, but after some yelling and screaming by the scared women they opened fire killing a youth along with injuring his mother and sister.

Orangi Town was not behind as its notorious Kati Pahari once again echoed with gunshots when hoodlums commandeered a minivan plying on the W22 route and gave their looting a finishing touch with an indiscriminate gunfire wounding two passengers seriously.

Gunmen also struck Hassan Square and Esa Nagri areas of Gulshan-e-Iqbal where they stripped the passengers of a Bilal Coach and a D1 bus of their valuables and left the same signature behind as those of the Kati Pahari looters by lodging bullets in the bodies of two of their victims.

To top it all in Garden East extortionists threw a hand grenade at a warehouse when their exactions were not met sending two to hospital and damaging assets big time.