Mysterious 'illegal' police raids in Christian community in Pakistan

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Residents in a Christian locality in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi said men in police uniforms and in plain clothes "abducted 24 men” in the last six weeks and “charged them” in false cases.

According to locals the police used vehicles without number plates during their “raids”. One of the abductees is a 15-year-old boy, who missed an exam due to his arrest.

The raids started on March 30 in Karachi's Youhanabad area, a small Christian locality, which is situated in Gulshan-e-Iqbal town, when locals said four youths were abducted. In a similar raid on April 15, security officials took six boys and then another 14 on May 8, they said.

A Youhanabad street where the residents say police conducted "illegal raids". /Photo via a Youhanabad resident

The situation has been gathering momentum with several online videos across social media and has started to gather international attention with Deutsche Welle News (DW) reporting on the story on Monday.

The following day, however, following the international coverage of the story, the families said the 14 boys were found in different police stations eight days after their “illegal arrest”.

A girl whose brother is among those "abducted" said that law enforcement officers cut their door locks while her family was asleep in a pre-dawn raid last week.

“They forced their way into our house by breaking the lock with a cutter at 5 a.m. They first told us that they wanted to verify identity cards and then took my brother away without producing an arrest warrant” Sumera Khurram, 26, a nurse, told CGTN Digital.

“I appeal to the Chief Justice, Sindh government and authorities to take notice of the illegal police action,” she said, denying police claims that his brother was involved in criminal activities.

A teenage boy, Akash Masih, who was last month released on bail after three days, said that he was subjected to brutal torture.

“I was electrocuted, beaten up and repeatedly asked to confess that I was involved in street crimes,” he said. The teenage boy had no idea where he was kept during interrogation.

Michael Masih, 52, told CGTN Digital that his son was among those arrested by the police.

“My son has no criminal record. He too was taken away in a pre-dawn raid by the police. Police have lodged a fake case of recovering a pistol against him and others.”

“We have hired a lawyer to contest police claims and filed an application in court for his immediate bail,” he said.

Although local residents do not give any explanation as to why these arrests might be happening, human rights lawyer Jibran Nasir visited the area on May 12 meeting the affected families and doing a Facebook Live, in which he said it is a common tactic for police to arrest innocent people when there are land disputes or to cover up police failures.

On Sunday, dozens of men, women, and children protested at the local Saint Jones Church to demand an end to the raids.

“We want justice. Free our loved ones and stop the illegal raids,” the protesters chanted.

Police earlier claimed in a statement on April 20 that they were busting a gang of street criminals.

Six of the 24 men the families say were "abducted by police". /Photo via Youhanaabad families

“The mobile police of Saeedabad, while busy in a routine patrol, reached Near Katch Road near Sector 12 graveyard, and found four suspects were trying to escape after carrying out a robbery. Police successfully chased and apprehended the criminals and recovered their weapons,” the police said.

A Youhanadad resident, however, said the arrests were made from homes on April 15 and that fabricated cases were filed on April 20.

What type of cases are registered days after the arrest, questioned Jibran Nasir.

The city's District East police chief Zulfiqar Larik denied the allegations made by the families that there had been any improper arrests when approached by CGTN Digital on Wednesday, saying the boys were not arrested at their homes but they are implicated in cases in other areas.

[Cover: A police officer stands guard outside St. Patricks Cathedral ahead of the Christmas celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan, December 20, 2017. /VCG Photo]