Labbaik Ya Hussain (as)

A massive fire engulfed shanties near Nagan Chowrangi in Karachi late Monday, according to eyewitnesses and rescue officials.

Several fire tenders reached the area, where firefighters were busy extinguishing the raging flames. Tankers from NIPA and Sakhi Hassan water hydrants had been dispatched to the site.

So far, no loss of life has been reported in the wake of the blaze.

People are working to empty their houses of their belongings themselves. Scenes of residents rushing into their houses to gather their belongings were witnessed at the site.

A mob put Mandani police station on fire in Tangi tensile of Charsadda KP demanding to handover an alleged mentally deranged person accused of desecration of Holy Quran. Police has shifted the accused to another location #blasphemy pic.twitter.com/WEzOkH6yQY
— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) November 28, 2021

One video shows smoke plumes and flames rising from a single storey structure as people gather around it. There is no sign of clashes though, and SAMAA Digital could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Several others videos that SAMAA Digital received appears to be from two locations and show vehicles on fire and people rampaging through a burning building.

An earlier video, recorded during the day, shows people storming through the police station’s gate after forcing it open.

There were reports that the mob also wanted to set fire to more police checkposts but the Ulema’s help was enlisted by authorities to stop the violence and the mob ended their rampage.

Officials have also called in police force from other areas of the district.

More to follow

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Section 144 imposed around Nasla Tower, demolition continues

The Sindh government has imposed Section 144, banning the assembly of four or more people at the surrounding of and inside Nasla Tower, Karachi, according to a notification issued.

The decision was taken on the request of the Deputy Commissioner District East and a notification has been issued by the Home Ministry.

Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) empowers a district administration to issue orders in the public interest that may place a ban on an activity for a specific period of time.

According to the notification, some people may turn violent during the demolition. Therefore, the gathering of more than four persons will be prohibited.

Strict action will be taken against those who interrupt in the work, it said.

The government is on alert after protestors turned aggressive when the demolition started.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ordered the city authorities to demolish Nasla Tower within seven days, rejecting a plea from the Karachi Commissioner who had sought 50 days.

The deployment was ordered after officials learned of a possible protest from the residents of Nasla Tower and the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), which has announced that it is stopping all constructions projects in Karachi to protest the Nasla Tower demolition.

Nasla Tower was vacated by the residents last month after the Supreme Court ordered it to be demolished using controlled blast. However, experts later revealed that Pakistan lacked the technology to take down buildings using controlled implosions.

Eventually, Karachi Commissioner hired a local contractor and started the demolition process using manual labourers and machines. A hollowed-out structure stands out among other buildings alongside the Shara-e-Faisal since Thursday.

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Nasla Tower, petrol prices, PTI convention, Thal jeep rally

Here are some of the developments we will be following today, Sunday, November 28, 2021.

The demolition of Karachi’s Nasla Tower remains unfinished on the fifth day since the work began on Wednesday. Karachi authorities were able to disperse protestors on Friday, but the possibility of renewed demonstrations lurks in the corner. Now, the Karachi Commissioner has banned the assembly of more than four people near the Nasla Tower by imposing section 144 of CrPC.

Oil prices in the international market have dropped significantly by almost $10 a barrel. Brent traded at $72.72 and WTI at $68.15. International oil was at $86 per barrel last month when the government increased prices of petrol and diesel. Now Pakistani consumers expect that the recent drop in the world oil will be reflected in the petrol pump prices. However, with the government planning to increase the petroleum development levy (PDL) and having pledged an increase in the dealers’ margin, there is a possibility that fuel prices could go up in Pakistan instead of going down. A summary is likely to be moved today.

The opposition alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) tries to mobilize its supporters. PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will engage with the media in Sukkur today.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is holding a party convention in Karachi today. Federal ministers Asad Umar and Ali Zaidi, the Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh, party leader Khurram Sher Zaman and others will address.

The sixth Thal Jeep Rally in Muzaffargarh in Punjab gets into the finals today. The qualifying rounds have been completed with much fanfare and adventures. On the first day, racer Mujtaba finished with his car engine literally on fire. SAMAA TV will be bringing you the scenes from Muzaffargarh.

In case you missed it

Some important developments were reported late on Saturday.

Court baffled at allotment of Pakistani land to Indian nationals

In a baffling case of what the Lahore High Court (LHC) has described as “a serious legal blunder” a civil judge in Lahore allotted Pakistani land to some Indian nationals. And it was not a mistake: the allottees produced their Indian identity documents before him.

Saudi Arabia lifts maximum age limit for Umrah pilgrims

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has lifted the maximum age limit of 50 years for overseas pilgrims performing Umrah.

Omicron: Pakistan bans inbound travel from six countries

The reports of rapidly mutated Covid variant Omicron have caused alarm in Pakistan and the monitoring body, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), has announced a ban on inbound travel from South Africa, five other African countries, and Hong Kong.

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SAMAA TV News Headlines 9am – 28 November 2021

Vigo-touting gang ripping off luxury four-wheelers headed to Punjab

Highway robbery, quite literally, has the police scrambling to ratchet up night patrols after four big hits in the last two months. Gangs are taking off with entire trailers loaded with luxury four-wheelers being transported through Sindh and Balochistan.

The trailers were hijacked on October 2 in Balochistan’s Kalat, on October 21 in Mastung and then the gangs struck on November 20 in Sindh’s Kandiaro and on November 24 in Hala.

The president of the All Pakistan Car Carrier Association, Imdad Naqvi, speculated that a single group is working the highway because each time the modus operandi was the same. They are targeting the Toyota Hilux Revos, Fortuners and Toyota Land Cruiser V8s whose starting prices are Rs7 million.

Naqvi said the gang used Vigos in all four snatchings. “The Vigo has a hooter or police lights on its roof like a police mobile to pose as law-enforcement,” he said. “They signaled the driver to stop, and when he pulled over the trailer, ten to twelve armed men in plainclothes surrounded the long vehicle and took the staff hostage at gunpoint.”

One man in the gang is an expert driving long vehicles like car carriers. The gang first offloads the driver and puts him it their Vigo so that their man can take control of the steering. “They took the long vehicles to a deserted place where they offloaded all the four-wheelers but they keep the driver and other staff hostage until the snatched four-wheelers reach their destination.” This takes a few days.

The first suspects were dacoits who roam the highway, but the Sindh police have ruled them out. “Dacoits of the Pakka area instead of the Kutcha are behind these highway snatchings,” said Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell (AVLC) SSP Bashir Ahmed Brohi.

The Balochistan police arrested a few of the gang members and recovered some of the snatched vehicles. “The remaining members of this gang moved on to Sindh and regrouped with some locals,” he added. The police recovered one of the snatched four-wheelers in Dadu.

A top Sindh police officer said he strongly suspected that insiders were involved. The officer, who wished not to be named, told Samaa Digital that he had reason to believe this because in the last three months the car carrier operators had abandoned precautionary measures they followed, which was highly suspicious.

“Earlier the keys of the [four-wheel] vehicles loaded on car carriers were dispatched to the owners by courier,” he explained. “But now many operators are transporting the vehicles with the car key.”

Also, previously the vehicle’s battery was removed before the car was loaded onto the carrier, but some operators have started loading vehicles with the battery.

Another trick was to remove the ramp from the carriers before they departed, so if anyone wanted to even take the cars, they wouldn’t be able to get them off.

In two of the cases, the police found that the keys and battery were on the vehicles being transported and the carriers had their ramps as well.