A detailed police report has exposed a series of extortion incidents targeting traders and builders across Karachi, revealing that criminal gangs used phone numbers from multiple foreign countries to issue threats and demand money.
According to the report, eight extortion cases involving members of traders’ associations were recorded in different parts of the city. In several instances, police action led to arrests through coordinated operations with law enforcement agencies.
The first incident occurred on September 27 in the Malir area, where traders received extortion threats.
A case was registered the same day at Malir City Police Station. Subsequently, on December 13, police carried out a raid at Qadri House, arresting three suspects involved in extortion activities in Malir.
Investigations revealed that the threatening calls were made from Iranian phone numbers and were linked to the Wasiullah Lakho group.
The second extortion threat was reported on September 30 in Bahadurabad, where the call again originated from an Iranian number.
Police arrested a suspect identified as Khizar, who allegedly used various online applications to collect extortion money.
The report stated that a third extortion call was received on December 2 in the Soldier Bazaar area, this time from a Dubai-based number. A police operation linked to the case resulted in one suspect being killed and five others arrested.
A fourth extortion call, also traced to an Iranian number, was received later in December in the Soldier Bazaar area, leading to the arrest of one additional suspect.
In another incident, a fifth extortion call was received in December in the Saddar area from an Iranian number.
Meanwhile, a sixth call originating from a Nigerian number targeted a builder in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The report added that another extortion call from a Nigerian number was received in Nazimabad about two weeks ago. The suspect involved in this case was arrested by the Darakhshan police.
In a separate incident during December, a builder in the Garden area received an extortion call from a Philippine-based number, the report said.
According to police, eight suspects linked to the extortion gang have been arrested so far in joint operations with law enforcement agencies, while further investigations are underway to dismantle the remaining network and identify additional suspects.