Karachi News


DAWN/The News International, KARACHI	17 September 2005, Saturday, 12 Shabaan

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1,000 faint after consuming polluted, Infant dies
ASI shot dead
Tax officer, wife and son poisoned
Militant killed, 13 tribal elders held in S Waziristan
Musharraf denies making insensitive remarks
US detains man over links to Lashkar-e-Taiba
Spain arrests Al-Jazeera reporter
1,000 faint after consuming polluted, Infant dies
KARACHI: One thousand people fainted and an infant girl lost her life after consuming contaminated water in Awami Colony, situated in UC-9 of Landhi Town. One girl, Yasmin, aged almost two years and daughter of Muhammad Yasin, a labourer hailing from Mansehra died in this incident.
Before police could investigate further, relatives of the infant took her body back to Mansehra for burial. According to information gathered from the area, sufferings came to light on Thursday night when over a dozen children were brought to different private hospitals and clinics in the locality after complaining of vomiting and dysentery.
At least one member of each family residing in the locality was affected by the water and soon hundreds of people approached private hospitals and clinics complaining of similar symptoms. Area residents were shaken by the course of events and sought public help as a result of which the town administration responded promptly and established emergency relief camps within the locality.
Some of the affected residents of Awami Colony told The News of their night long ordeal. "On Thursday night, all of sudden area residents started to suffer severe pains in their stomachs. Prior to this, many children had complained of the same problem. People startedto vomit and suffered from dysentery and some even fell unconscious and were rushed to the nearby private hospitals and clinics," recalled one agitated resident.
"Everyone was crying with pain and hurling abuses at the municipal authorities responsible for supply of potable waterin the area’, they said. The area residents were believed that the pains that they were experiencing were probably the result of water, which was supplied to them through the government arrangement. Considering the widespread effect of the ailment, it can be safely assumed that it was the water which was behind the affair.
However, some victims of polluted water of the Awami Colony have a different point of view. They argued that if the if sewerage lines had mingled with the water supply lines, then there should have been a foul smell from the contaminated water but was absent in the present situation.
They said that they should have not used the water if it had smelled bad. They said that the water smelt as though some chemicals have gotten mixed with it which might be impurities from factories of the surrounding areas.
Nazeer Ahmed Lakhani, the caretaker Nazim of the Landhi Town told The News that, after knowing about the incident, the administration announced an emergency and established relief camp in UC-9 Awami Colony, where the numbers of victims had risen to hundreds.
Lakhani said that about 400 victims were advised to go to their houses following first-aid in the emergency medical camp established in the Landhi area, while over 350 victims were sent to different hospitals including Sindh Government Hospital Korangi, where at about 100 victims are still under treatment.
The Landhi Town administration visiting continuously the hospitals, where victims have been admitted and supply of the water within the pipelines that supposed contaminated was immediately stopped. Potable water was provided to keep water supply in-order in the area by tankers.
The administration further announced that, medical expenses would be paid by the town administration. However, samples of the contaminated water have been collected from different localities and sent to Aga Khan Laboratory for testing. Meanwhile, Aamir Moeen, Talib Imam, the Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), town administration and police officials also visited the affected areas.
ASI shot dead
KARACHI: A police officer was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Nawaz Goth vicinity within the precincts of Yousuf Plaza police station, here late on Friday night, police official said.

DSP Azizabad Ajaz Hashmi told The News that as soon as he received the information of firing in Nawaz Goth, he along with a police party rushed to the spot, where people told them that the injured policeman had been shifted to a hospital.

Police searched for the victim in all private hospitals of the locality, besides the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, but in vain, he added. Later, people informed the police about a body lying near Yaseenabad Bridge in Azizabad police limits. Police reached there and shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, he said.

The deceased, who sustained about eight bullets wounds to his head, was identified as Shabaz Khan, 50, a police Assistant Sub-Inspector. Police told The News that four unidentified motorcyclists shot dead Khan in Nawaz Goth and took away his body. Later they threw the body near Yaseenabad Bridge.

Tax officer, wife and son poisoned

KARACHI: An inspector of Income Tax (IT) along with his wife and minor son were allegedly killed by poisoning and their bodies were thrown in the Sakhi Hassan Graveyard on Friday.

According to the police, an area resident told them that Siddique Alam, 40, had left his house situated in Muslim Town North Karachi on Thursday evening, while his wife, Feroza Begum aged 35, along with their son, Huzaifa aged 4, had left the house separately.

Police believe that some persons familiar to the Siddique family had invited the deceased and then allegedly confined them all at some place, where they were eventually plied with poison.

SP Investigation, Mir Zubair Jabbar told The News that Friday morning, the brother of Siddique received an SMS from the deceased’s cell phone informing him about the bodies of Siddique, his wife and son.

Consequently the police was informed of this and they along with the brother reached the graveyard where they found the three bodies. The bodies were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the medico legal experts confirmed their cause of death was due to swallowing poison. The bodies were handed over to Qadar Hussain, the father of Siddique Aalam.

The Sharae-Noorjahan police have registered a case FIR No 336/2005, against unidentified killers on complaint of the father and launched an investigation.

The police said that since no signs of physical violence were found on any of the victims, the poison must have been given without any compulsion.

Militant killed, 13 tribal elders held in S Waziristan

TANK: A militant was killed in South Waziristan on Friday while the authorities took 13 tribal elders into custody to force their sub-tribe to hand over men accused of snatching an official vehicle.

The militant, identified as Yaqub, son of Shadajan from the Wazirgi sub-tribe of the Mahsud tribe, was reportedly shot dead by a man who was blamed as a pro-government spy.

Five militants, seated in a car, had chased the vehicle in which the unidentified man was travelling along with other passengers from Makeen to Spinkai Raghzai via Srarogha. After intercepting the passenger vehicle just outside Srarogha bazaar, Yaqub and the other militants all of whom had covered their faces disembarked and started moving toward it.

Eyewitnesses said the man fired at the militants, killing Yaqub on the spot. Tribal sources said the militants then got hold of the man and thrashed him before throwing him into their car and driving him away on the road leading to Spinkai Raghzai town.

A tribesman close to the militants later said the man had been spying for the government and the plan was to capture him alive. He said this man would now be dealt with under Shariat for murdering their colleague Yaqub. He added that the man was being held in a secret place.

Meanwhile, 13 tribal elders from the Machikhel sub-tribe of the Mahsud tribe were arrested when they came to Tank to meet assistant political officer Anwarzeb. They had been reportedly invited for the meeting to discuss the case of the official vehicle that the militants had snatched ten days ago in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan. The militants who snatched the vehicle, belonging to assistant political agent, Wana, freed the Khassadars and returned their Kalashnikov rifles after taking them along for some distance.

The authorities made it clear the 13 tribal Maliks would remain behind the bars until the official vehicle was delivered and those who snatched it are produced and handed over to the administration. The arrested tribal elders include Jehangir Khan, Sherbaz, Ghulam Nabi, Shamroz Khan, Hikmat Khan, Abdul Hameed, Mardalojan, Dostmal, Ghazi Muhammad, Loi Khan, Shaizullah, Sherjan and Khair Muhammad.

Musharraf denies making insensitive remarks

NEW YORK, Sept 16: President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that he was not so insensitive that he would blame rape victim for exploiting their ordeal, as reported by a US newspaper.

Responding to a Washington Post interview quoting him as saying that some rape victims used their ordeal to get visas to Western countries, the president said: “I am not stupid to make such remarks.”

The interview was published on Tuesday and the same day Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin told a news conference at the United Nations that Mr Musharraf should apologize for making such remarks.

“I stated unequivocally that comments such as that are not acceptable and that violence against women is also a blight that besmirches all humanity,” Martin said.

The president confirmed that Mr Martin did speak to him about his alleged remarks but said the Canadian leader did not ask him to apologize.

US detains man over links to Lashkar-e-Taiba

WASHINGTON: The US authorities said on Friday they arrested a man on charges of providing support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group named a terrorist organisation by the United States. Ali Asad Chandia was arrested late on Thursday at College Park, in the Maryland suburbs, said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher in a statement.