Rehman Dakait has been making headlines for some years now, and his nabbing in Jinnah Town in Quetta made front page news. In urban Karachi, he is a mythical figure from the feared but not talked about underworld.

According to the police, he is a man who killed his mother and after that never looked back. Khadija Bibi was murdered in cold blood in her own home by her own son Rahman, who was in his 20s then. The atmosphere in his home was that of a criminal. His father was Haji Dad Mohammad alias Dadal, a petty criminal with some notoriety in his time that his son would surpass, grabbing headlines many years later. And so began the notorious legend of Rehman Dakait who some people even see as a hero.

His arrest was followed by protests by some people from Lyari outside the Karachi Press Club. In this city, even someone like Rehman Dakait has supporters. He is the product of the time he spent in the war torn lanes of Lyari. At a time when he has been painted purely as a cold blooded murderer who chews taryaag (a drug that induces insomnia), kills, extorts and threatens, Kolachi investigates his past to figure out how Rehman became Rehman Dakait.

History of Lyari

Lyari is the oldest locality of the provincial metropolis, where diverse people from different sects and tribes once resided in a peaceful and amicable manner. The majority of the population is of Baloch origin, others include Sindhis, Urdu speaking and Gujrati Kathiawaris (Khachis). The Baloch have been residing in Lyari in Sindh for time immemorial. The oldest part of the city, it is little wonder that Lyari is the least developed. With narrow lanes that interconnect with more narrow lanes, it is an area where cars cannot be driven. As such it is mostly pedestrian and the somewhat well-to-do commute on motor bikes. It has rampant unemployment, water problems, sewerage problems and all the social issues that stem from a city area being congested. When people live too close for comfort, strange things happen.

The biggest and most lethal of these is the emergence of crime. When people feel deprived, they turn to guns. Lyari, an area with rampant unemployment, low literacy and menial job opportunities, was ripe for the crime wave that would culminate in the rise and fall of Rehman Dakait.

Petty criminals

Some 50 years ago in the mid 60s, Sher Muhammad alias Sheru and Dad Muhammad alias Dadal (Rehman Dakait's father) started a drug business in the locality. Back at that time, Pakistan was still young and Karachi even younger and Lyari was not the cess pit it has now become. The distance between the have and have nots wasn’t so big and the residents of Lyari lived in relative peace.

Sheru and Dadal were brothers who liked to have a good time. Film fanatics, they worked as ushers at cinema houses across the city. In their free time which they had a lot of, they liked to smoke hashish. This lead to them dealing the drug to fund their own habit. When they started that, they came up against the uncrowned drug king of Lyari, a man called Kala Nag. This was the first experience they had of coming up against a criminal king pin and it reinforced their belief in themselves.

Those were the days of knives, not guns. The Afghan Jihad against evil communism that would flood Pakistan and Karachi with weapons was still a decade away. The rivalry between Sheru and Dadal on one side and Kala Nag on the other continued, but no lives were destroyed because there was no cross fire. Kala Nag was killed when he jumped from a building while running from the police. Sheru and Dadal resumed their drug peddling activities with greater ease, eventually dying petty criminals of natural causes.

Crime heats up

As time went by and Karachi became more overpopulated, more people moved to Lyari. The area became more cramped and congested and lay in shambles. The narrow lanes were perfect for crime to fester in and fester it did.

Allah Baksh the son of Kala Nag played a bigger game than his father and came to be known as Kala Nag II. But two greater powers were on the rise in the deprived Lyari locality who would come to play a great roll in Rehman Dakait’s life. Haji Lal Mohammad aka Laloo and Iqbal Babu Dakait were the forces to be reckoned with. Ultimately Kala Nag II joined hand with Babu Dacait and the two worked together against Laloo. Kala Nag was arrested in 1991 and to date he remains in prison.

Crime was getting bigger now. Petty drug peddlers were now armed to the teeth and realized that extortion was another way of making money. The rival gangs (Laloo Group and Babu Dacait Group) controlled their own sections of Lyari. The residents needed to be loyal to the one operating their area or else...

At this crucial point, gang wars were going to spiral out of control and this is when Rehman, Dadal’s son stepped in. The young man who would become Rehman Dakait was about to go through a life changing experience.

Training days

With trade coming in fast and furious to Lyari there were more chances of extortion. Haji Laloo and Babu Dakait were gunning for each other - literally! Babu hired Hanif Bajola, a contract killer to kill Laloo. Simultaneously, Laloo was training his friend Dadalís orphan son to make a hit on Babu.

To people familiar with what happened in those times, one story adds to the Rehman Dakait myth. It is said that Rehman went to kill Babu armed with a klashnikov. When the two were face to face, Babu laughed at him and said "You may have Dadal’s name, but ultimately you are my son." He revealed to Rehman that he had been having an affair with Khadija Bibi, Rehman’s mother for years. Rehman left in a rage and shot his mother instead. The day was September 18, 1995. This was the probably the day when Rehman Dakait was truly born.

With all the papers reporting that the first person Rehman Dakait killed was his mother, the image that forms is that of a cold blooded killer of the worst kind. But imagine the shock and anger of a young man making his way up the ranks of the Laloo Group in Lyari who goes in for the ultimate hit - to take out his godfather’s nemesis and has his mother’s adultery thrown in his face. It is a story straight out of a Ram Gopal Varma pot boiler, but Rehman Dakait bears testimony to the fact that these things really happen. When souls are fractured beyond repair, killers are born.

Haji Laloo wins, Rehman Dakait rises

The gang wars in Lyari went on and in the ensuing struggle for power, it was Babu Dakait who emerged as the greatest loser. Four of his sons perished in the conflict. Haji Laloo also had a son, Arshad Pappu, but he kept him in the background. He had a far superior ally in Rehman Dakait who was truly coming in to his own. Perhaps there was no need for him to put Arshad Pappu’s life on the line. The game was getting dirtier and as concern rose over the gang wars in Lyari, the police stepped in.

In 1996, Babu Dakait suffered a paralytic stroke and was arrested. In the same year, Rehman Dakait and Yasser Arafat (Haji Laloo’s son) were also arrested. At that time, there were 20 cases against Rehman, out of which Haji Lal bailed him out of 19. Crime lords have their ways and means so it wasn’t surprising when Rehman Dakait managed to escape in 1997 when he was being taken to a court hearing.

After escaping, Rehman along with Haji Laloo started purely criminal activities. Kidnapping for ransom, extortion, hired killings and of course, the staple trade drugs. The two worked together and rose in power, but the ultimate battle for supremacy was inevitable. The only thing stopping it was that Rehman owed much to his mentor, who must have been somewhat of a father figure in his life. However, tensions between Laloo and Rehman started to show in the late ‘90s when Rehman kidnapped one Saleem Memon from Kharadar. Haji Laloo called Rehman and asked him to release Saleem, saying that he knew his family. Rehman did exactly that, only to later discover that Haji Laloo had taken the ransom money for Saleem and cut him out of the picture and robbed him of his share. Rehman did not retaliate, but he must have felt uneasy, because at that time, the other power on the rise in the Haji Laloo Group was Arshad Pappu, Laloo’s son and therefore heir apparent to the Lyari King throne. Rehman was slowly learning how to read the writing on the wall and soon it would all become very clear.

The last straw

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the death of Faiz Mohammad who was also known as Faizoo. He was a transporter by profession and a friend of Rehman Dakait. However, he was not a criminal, but being a resident of Lyari and a friend of Rehman, he came into the cross fire. Arshad Pappu asked him for extortion money , which Faizoo refused to pay, saying that he was friends with Rehman. Arshad Pappu and his henchmen shot him and then kidnapped him. Faizoo’s body was found later; he had bled to death.

Rehman held on to his horses for some time more. In 2001 Laloo was arrested and sent to jail. Arshad Pappu took over his father’s gang and came head to head against Rehman Dacait. The cycle was complete. There were two rival gangs trying to control Lyari and making money in the process.

From 2001, till today over 20 policemen have been killed in the line of duty. Other than them over 350 people have lost their lives to the gang war that ensued. Many efforts were made to clean up Lyari but till Rehman Dakait’s arrest in Quetta, the efforts seem to be too little too late.

Operation Cleanup

To end the gangwar more than six Town Police Officers were changed because they could not accomplish the monumental task of ending this gang war. Two or three times, a designated force was established whose sole purpose was to clean up Lyari, but to no avail. In 2004 the ICU (Industrial Crime Unit) was created to finish extortion. It was disbanded in November 2005 for reasons unknown. It was replaced by the the Lyari Task Force, which is responsible for arresting Rehman Dakait. Arshad Pappu is still in hiding.

The future of Lyari

Rehman Dakait’s arrest though significant is not the end of Lyari’s problems. The gangs are still very much around - they are only lying low at the moment. It remains to be seen who emerges as the next Rehman Dakait. Word is out on the street that one Noor Mohammad aka Baba Ladla is the acting chief of the Rehman Dakait Group.

The gangs operating in the locality have demonstrated that they are more powerful than the police time and again. Operating with a missionary zeal they have become more influential than the police. As a result, the residents of Lyari are at the mercy of the criminals, who move freely within the locality in spite of the fact that they are on the most wanted list issued by the government. They openly deal drugs and rob citizens, who reside in the area and traders doing business in the vicinity, on a monthly basis. If an individual resists the gangs have no hesitation in doling out the punishment: a death sentence for either him or someone he loves.

The residents of Lyari have been paying taxes to the government as well as extortion money to criminals in order to protect their lives and businesses. They are caught between obeying the orders of the criminals and the police. The police label them as alliances of these gangsters. If they help the police by giving them information about the criminals, they face certain death from these gangsters.

The gangs thrive on dealing with drugs, arms and ammunition and extorting money from local traders and businessmen traveling by bus. The buses stay put until the dacoits order them to move and each outgoing bus, mini bus and coach has to pay 25 to 100 rupees per trip. Collectively it gets them thousands of rupees daily while monthly fixed extortion and contraband businesses also get them large amounts of money. These activities continue under the patronization of some police officials.

Rehman Dakait was a part of this reign of terror. He may be behind bars but the terror continues to prowl the narrow lanes of Lyari, waiting for another kingpin. When the system fails, strange and very sinister powers rise...

"Who is responsible for all these years we wasted suffering in prison?" bitterly questions one of the many residents of Hala who were booked under a case which has now proved to be fake, while speaking to newsmen on an appearance in court. No one has the answer to their simple question. It really is mind boggling that why did they have to spend almost three years in prison for crimes they did not commit and the inquiry for which incidentally took three years. But such are the workings of our legal system.

Let’s assume that they might get some sort of compensation but what can anyone possibly do for the family of Ghulam Mustafa Khokar who died two months back, unable to handle the prison life. Mustafa died in Hyderabad Central Prison due to an illness developed during his imprisonment.

After three years of suffering prison life, the accused were finally discharged when the girl, whose kidnap they were charged with was recovered. Nayab, 18, belongs to the Memon community and is the daughter of Abdul Rasheed who registered a case against the accused three years ago under the Zina Hudood Ordinance. When finally produced in court Nayab recorded her statement saying that she was never kidnapped.

Her simple words had a miraculous affect on the court proceedings for the families of the accused since for all these years the police had failed to present evidence of their involvement in the case. This is not an isolated case. There are hundreds of innocent persons including females who are imprisoned in jails all over Pakistan spending precious years behind bars due to the slow pace of case procedures.

The reasons are many including non-production of prisoners in courts, unavailability of lawyers and also financial constraints in paying for release. As a result, whether someone has committed a crime or not he or she would have to spend years behind bars unless sufficient proof is produced before the court about their innocence but many of the unfortunate die in the process.

The Matiari district police recovered the girl after three years recently on the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from Nawabshah district. Nayab Memon, was recovered along with her daughter from Allah Wadhayo Siyal, a man she had married years ago in Nawabshah.

Giving details District Police Officer (DPO) Matiari Iqbal Dara and SP Investigation Sikander Mangi informed that Nayab along with her two sisters left their home, sick of their familyís attitude three years back on 28th August 2003. The other two sisters Shadab and Aftab returned home shortly but Nayab Memon never returned. The police officials said that Nayabís father, Abdul Rasheed Memon registered a case (89/2003) with Hala police shortly after the girls left their parentsí home.

They added that investigations into the case continued and the case was shifted to Karachi on the directives of High Court while the accused in the case including Achar Kumhan, Noor Mohammed, Pathani Kumhan, Shama Mochi, Sana Mochi, Mushtaq Ahmed and Ghulam Mustafa, Zulfikar Arbab and Amir Bux were arrested.

Challan was filed against the accused and they were sent to various prisons in Sindh while Ghulam Mustafa expired in Central Prison Hyderabad of illness during the trial and others suffered the unbearable jails. During the case investigation, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took notice of the delay in the case process and directed the police officials for immediate recovery of Nayab Memon.

In the light of SC directives and instructions of IG Sindh and RPO Hyderabad region, SP Investigation along with his team recovered Nayab Memon after hectic efforts.

Nayab Memon while speaking to newsmen informed that she left the home on her own free will tired of the attitude of her family members and brother and was not kidnapped. She said that she married Allah Wadhayo after a year, had his child and is pregnant again adding that she wanted to live with her husband. She also registered the same statement with judicial magistrate Hala after her†recovery.

Talking to journalists, she said that she went to Nawabshah where she met Allah Wadhayo and decided to marry him. She married Wadhayo under another name, Amber, to hide her identity. She also expressed regret that several people were arrested for her alleged kidnapping and felt sorry for them and their families.

Police officials said that they would present the record to the Supreme Court about the new developments in the case as the girl has now recorded her statement. Police officials attributed her change of name as the main reason for delay in her recovery that took three years adding that all efforts were made for her recovery.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry has allowed Nayab to live with her husband when she was produced in the apex court.

However, what is missing in the decision is the loss of time and life of an accused in the case during the investigation and it needs to be probed that why it took so long for the police to recover the girl.

A young lawyer Farhat Khan talking to Kolachi said that whosoever registers a fake case should face punishment and the complainant should be taken to task for framing wrong charges, when the during the course of investigation the charges are proved false. She feels that the reason there are so many people imprisoned without their cases being run in courts is because of the unavailability of lawyers who have to present and pursue the case in the court. She hopes that Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhryís decision that Hudood cases would be processed within three months would help the concerned and they will get some relief from this announcement.

Whatever the reason is for unnecessary delays in the judicial process there is no substituting the loss of precious years and sometimes lives and most importantly the dignity of those wrongly accused. The question remains that when will the lower judiciary start working on its own instead of the Supreme Court’s involvement? And more importantly when will the judicial system become friendly for the innocent?

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Undue punishment: These women were imprisoned for three years

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Nayab Memon with her child

Salma: I am a housewife, married for six years. My husband works as a clerk and we are a childless couple.

Kolachi: When and how did you start working?

Salma: I started working to help run the house. My husband barely makes 3500 rupees a month and given inflation, it is very hard to survive on this meagre amount. A neighbour worked for a community based shaadi hall. She washed the dishes there and was paid as well as given ample food in return. She asked me if I was interested and I started working with her.

Kolachi: What are your timings?

Salma: Since most of the functions are held at night, I go there after 10 p.m. as by that time people usually start eating. I get over with my work by 1 a.m. Apart from going there on weekends or whenever there are functions, I am free all day and keep myself busy with housework as well as Ali (her neighbourís grandson).

Kolachi: How much are you paid?

Salma: I make around 300 rupees per function. But if itís a wedding program and the family is generous, then they do give me extra money as well as food. The food I get, I store it in my freezer and this saves me from cooking meals every day. If itís Ramadan, I am able to earn a reasonable amount as there are Iftaar parties everyday but there are times when there is no work for a month as in Muharram etc. and those are the hardest days.

Kolachi: What did you buy from your first earning?

Salma: I saved the money for a month, and then when a decent amount was collected, I went ahead and bought a cassette player.

Kolachi: Describe your average day.

Salma: I wake up at Fajar, say my prayers and then rest till its 7 a.m. Then, I make breakfast for my husband as he has to leave early. Once he is out of the house, I clean the rooms, do the laundry and may be stitch some clothes for myself. Apart from that, the rest of my day is free and I watch films and dramas on Star Plus. I like watching the Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and the other Indian drama serials on air. Also, I visit my mother’s place and go shopping too. In the night, once my husband is home, I leave for work. I am back by 1 a.m and simply sleep since washing dishes is no easy task.

Kolachi: How is your husband’s behaviour towards you?

Salma: He is a nice person. He never mistreats me and despite the fact that we do not have children, he has never pressured me by saying that he will marry another woman. We are looking for Allah’s blessings and hopefully someday have our own child too.

Kolachi: You take care of your neighbour’s grandchild as if he is your own kid.

Salma: He is Allah’s gift to me. His mother is busy with work and leaves the kid with his grandmother. Now my neighbour is old and she isn’t able to take care of him. Initially I used to help her with him but now he is so used to me that he just comes along and even stays at my place.

Kolachi: Do you think that the Indian serials are far removed from reality?

Mariam: Not really! The stories are family oriented and a lot of things do happen in every ones’ home. The stories are true to life. Tulsi is my favourite character while Kashish is another character I like especially her fashion and style.

Kolachi: Do you like going out?

Mariam: I like going to the Clifton beach at times. But generally I would prefer going to my mother’s house than on an outing.

Kolachi: How do feel life has treated you?

Salma: I am satisfied with the way life is but I do wish that we had more money. As the month nears its end, we do face a shortage of money but I am sure Allah will help us.

Kolachi: If there is one thing you could change about your life what would that be?

Salma: I wish I had been educated, as I would have gone into teaching. It’s a respectable profession and I would like to spend my time surrounded by children.

Seeing Salma’s caring attitude towards the child who is more or less abandoned by his own mother, one is amazed at her calm demeanour. As the she puts him to sleep, she talks about how she looks forward to having her own child one day. A calm Karachiite who never gets provoked by odd comments she gets from women who seem to have issues with her being childless, Salma chooses to stay hopeful. Rather than crib and concede to fate, Salma is thankful to what life has given her, always giving and never asking for anything in return, such is Karachi’s character.

In this sprawling city of millions, thousands of women step out of the house to share the financial burden and amongst them is Salma. In her ‘30s, Salma is a housewife who started working to help run the household.

A soft spoken woman with strong religious beliefs, her job involves washing dishes at a community hall. Married for six years, she is without a child as yet but is not losing hope and believes that someday she will have a child of her own. Meanwhile, she satisfies her maternal instincts by taking care of her neighbour’s grandson, a special child. Kolachi caught up with Salma and took a sneak peak into her life.