People complain of abuse while police struggle to keep crime rate down in violence-torn Karachi

KARACHI, Jan 27: When youngsters in a poor neighbourhood in southern Pakistan see a police car coming down the bumpy mud road, they dash away and hide in the district's narrow, labyrinth-like passages, reports AP.

Some shout abuses at the policemen as they disappear in the streets of the Karachi's Gharibabad neighbourhood.

"All of us run when we see the police... They are corrupt and hostile toward us," said Mohammed Naeem, a 22-year-old labourer. "They say we are terrorists and take us to the police station where we are abused, beaten and released only after our relatives pay them bribes."

Police say crime in this violence-plagued port city has dropped since the government launched a crackdown on the Muttahida Qami Movement (MQM) political party. But human rights groups say the moves violate Pakistan's constitution and undermine the judiciary.

Gharibabad, like most low-income localities, is a stronghold of the MQM, which represents Urdu-speaking Indians who migrated to Pakistan when British rule ended in 1947.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government blames the MQM for much of the bloodletting in the restive city of 14 million people. The party is locked in a bloody feud with a breakaway faction and hundreds of people have died in tit-for-tat killings between militants in the two groups.

The government launched the crackdown to quell violence in Karachi after it dismissed the provincial government on Oct 30. It suspended civil rights and set up military courts to try those responsible for "terrorism."

Last month, police surrounded the neighbourhood to arrest alleged terrorists and a bloody gunbattle between the police and militants raged for 14 hours.

Several days later, authorities bulldozed around 300 houses, saying they were "infested with terrorists and criminals."

Opposition parties and human rights groups say the moves weren't necessary.

"This is all part of the government's campaign to eliminate the party," said Kanwar Khalid Younus, an MQM lawmaker in Parliament. "We are being targeted because our leaders belong to the lower-middle class and speak for the poor. We don't indulge in violence."

But police say crime has declined by almost 60 per cent since the start of the operation.

"Compared to 65 deaths by terrorism in October when we started the operation, there were only 10 in November," said Karachi Police Chief Farooq Ameen Quereshi.

In December, police said, there were 16 terrorist-related deaths - well below the monthly average of 46 in the first 10 months of the year.

"The MQM terrorists used to hold entire areas hostage. They kill and torture people, extort money and even rape women," Quereshi said. "The residents support us when we arrest terrorists."

But in several neighbourhoods, people complained that corrupt policemen took money and valuables during house-to-house searches and often arrested innocent people.

"They are not policemen, but robbers," said 60-year-old Rasheeda Begum. "They came to search our houses for weapons, but took away 500 rupees (dlrs 10) and silver jewelry. They slapped and kicked my two sons and abused me and my daughter-in-law when we protested."

Jamil Yousuf, chief of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee, said police are dealing with an abnormal situation.

"During raids and house search operations, people do feel the pinch. But extreme situations demand extreme steps," he said. "We don't rule out the possibility of high-handed actions and corruption. But we have formed committees to redress such complaints. Now the number of complaints is coming down."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said there have been three deaths in police custody since the operation began.

"We have reports of torture and illegal detentions," said Zohara Yousuf, HRCP secretary-general. "But compared to the past, this time there is a greater check and accountability on the police and complaints are fewer."

"There is lot of corruption in the police force and it doesn't enjoy the confidence of the people," she said. "There hasn't been a change in their attitude."