KARACHI: Preedy Street has turned into a hub of organised crime in which illegal set ups continue to operate with the tacit approval of authorities.
The track going from Empress Market towards Peoples Secretariat is bulging with kiosks of fruit and vegetable vendors on one side and bumbling with illegal set ups of shoe sellers on the other side. The narrow strip of road left for vehicles witnesses traffic jams on daily basis.
The signal free corridor was supposed to be an alternative route towards central business areas. However, the road has been taken over by kiosk mafia and travelling on it has become a hassle for the commuters.
As many as 500 vendors, illegal have been set up in the area. The kiosks owners remarked that every vendor pays Rs150 daily to the police and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) officials to operate their business on the road.
This equals to authorities minting Rs75,000 per day and about Rs2.25 million in a month.
This has become a type of organised crime which is backed by influential and powerful authorities, remarked a traffic police higher up, requesting anonymity.
Alongside, kiosks owners also alleged that police, KMC officials inform them a day before they start an encroachment drive in the area. “This helps us minimise our losses,” remarked one of the vendors.
Speaking about the issue, a traffic police official said that the extortion money is taken by KMC officials and District police officers. The responsibility of the traffic police is only to manage the traffic in the area, the official added.
On the other hand, Saddar SP Tauqeer Naeem claimed to be unaware of the issue. “We have a clear cut policy against organised crime,” he said, adding, “If any police officer is found guilty in this we will take action against him.”
He also remarked that no complaint regarding any police officers on this issue has been registered yet. “However, if someone approaches us we will investigate it,” he told Geo News.
“We have taken action against these encroachers but they keep coming back,” said a KMC official, requesting anonymity. “We are currently devising a policy to get rid of the encroachers once and for all.”
However, there are always some black sheep in the system. “We would appreciate it if people are able to help us identify them.” After identifying them, legal action will be taken against them, he added.