KARACHIM  -  Ansoor Khan / RAMZAN CHANDIO -  Law enforcement agencies have failed to maintain law and order in Lyari and adjacent areas where gangsters continued using rockets, grenades and other sophisticated weapons against each other on the third consecutive day on Friday.The shootout continued in various localities of Lyari including Hangorabad, Agratajj, Phool Pati Lane, Chakiwara, Bihar Colony, Dubai Chowck, Maripur Road and other adjoining areas dominated by Kutchi people. The Friday gun battle left at least seven people dead and over fifty wounded. Exchange of fire, grenades and rockets continued in the areas, forcing scores of families to abandon their houses and take refuge in shelter homes established by Kutchi Rabita Council (KRC). It has been learnt that Noor Muhammad aka Baba Ladla, a kingpin of Lyari, on Thursday night made announcements in the mosques of the troubled areas that Kutchies, Kathiyawari, Memon and MQM supporters evacuate the areas within 48 hours. Following the announcements, gangsters started attacks on Kutchi dominated areas in which three people were killed while fifty others were wounded. Kutchis offered the funeral prayer of Shoaib Ishaq Kutchi at Maripur Road and tried to take the body to the Chief Minister’s House but police used teargas, water cannon and did aerial firing to scatter the mob.  The clash between the protesters and police continued for six hour and suspended the activities of Karachi Port and stuck the traffic on several major roads of the city. During the clash, six people got injured and later one of the injured, Iqbal Shah, succumbed to injures while the other were hospitalised. Following the protest, gangsters launched more attacks on Kutchi dominated areas in which Shakeel Kutchi and an unknown man were killed at Jumma Baloch Road, Qasim Kutchi killed on Al-Falah Road, another man was killed in Bandooq Gali, Nipper and a dead body was found from Nattaka Bridge. Gangsters also attacked law enforcers and forced them out of the trouble areas. Law enforcement agencies, politicians and gangsters are in unison and making million of rupees by manufacturing gutka, running gambling dens, selling drugs, kidnapping for ransom and extortions, the locals alleged. Hussain Kutchi, leader of the KRC, said that the income from Lyari ‘is beyond our imagination’. “That is why no action has been taken against the gangsters who are also targeting Usmanabad, Dhobi Ghat, Ranchore Line, Kharader, Shairshah to get control of these areas as well.”He said: “At least 270 people including 26 women and 14 children have been killed during the brutal attacks of gangsters in last three years. Hundreds of families evacuated their houses and staying in camps of KRC because majority of the houses were encroached by gangsters and hundreds of other were destroyed.  “Our people took the weapon for our defence otherwise gangsters would capture the whole areas of Kutchis and kill us. Police and rangers are reluctant to take action against the gangsters and unable to save our lives, forcing us to take weapons to defend ourselves against gangsters.” South Deputy Commissioner Jamal Mustafa Qazi claimed to have resolved the issues through negotiations with criminal gangs on Thursday but attacks were resumed in the area as he left Lyari. “Killing and violence is not a problem of Lyari alone, said the deputy commissioner but disconnected the call when asked why only Lyari accounted for 50 percent of killings. Meanwhile, the Sindh government announced establishing more pickets of police and rangers in Lyari to ensure the peace and protection of the lives of people in the area.This announcement came in the wake of the talks held between the leaders of the protesting Katchi people of Lyari, who staged protest sit-in outside the Chief Minister’s House on Friday.The feud between the banned People’s Amn Committee and Katchi community have paralysed life in Lyari , besides claiming several lives.A delegation of the Katchi community led by Siddique Katchi met with the government representatives including Sindh Information Minister Shajreel Inam Memon, Senator Saeed Ghani, Waqar Mehdi, Rashid Rabbani and the South DIG. The sit-in outside the CM House continued for four hours during the talks between leaders of the protesting Katchi community and the government representatives at CM Secretariat. The Katchi leaders demanded of the government to take action against the criminals of Lyari gang-war and provide protection to Katchis. They said that police and rangers were not taking action against the gangsters in the area, giving them a free hand.  The authorities assured the Katchi leaders of action to ensure the peace and protection in Agra Taj, Gulbahar and other areas of Lyari. Sharjeel Memon said that police and rangers’ pickets would be established in Lyari by Friday to guard the people.“It is the responsibility of the government to provide protection to citizens irrespective of their area, language and religion. Establishing law and order in the city was the priority of the government”, the minister said. “The government has given a freehand to police and rangers to eliminate the criminals from the city for maintaining peace.”After being assured by the authorities that action would be taken against criminals in Lyari and other areas, the Katchhi people ended their sit-in outside the CM House and dispersed peacefully.