KCCI Raises Alarm Over Rising Extortion Threats as Sindh Govt Stays Silent

Staff Reporter

Karachi: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in extortion threats targeting the city’s business community, urging traders to enhance surveillance and report all incidents to authorities as fears of street-level crime resurface.

However, the Sindh government has so far avoided addressing the issue publicly. A scheduled press briefing by Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho on Wednesday was abruptly cancelled “on the orders of Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar.” Media personnel were told the home minister intended to speak on the matter himself at a later date.

In a circular issued on October 4, the KCCI warned members that business owners had received “extortion chits accompanied by bullets, with demands for heavy sums of money,” describing the trend as “extremely alarming.”

The chamber urged its members to install CCTV cameras at business and residential properties to help law enforcement trace culprits.

“The recordings may be shared with KCCI, enabling the Chamber to escalate the matter to the concerned authorities with concrete evidence,” the advisory stated.

In a video message received by Imroze Pakistan, KCCI President Javed Bilwani said the business community was facing an “unsettling revival” of extortion rackets that had been largely curbed in recent years.

“There has been a surge in incidents of extortion in recent weeks,” Bilwani said. “We’ve alerted our members to install CCTV cameras, but the menace cannot be eliminated until the Safe City project is completed.”

He said threats were being reported by traders, builders, and industrialists alike, targeting both commercial and residential properties.

Atiq Mir, President of the Karachi Tajir Ittehad, said intimidation and fear were spreading across the city’s markets.

“Most shopkeepers are getting threatening calls. Bullets are being wrapped in papers and sent,” he said in a video statement. “Even children of businessmen are being threatened. The situation is turning grave.”

Mir appealed to the Sindh chief minister and Inspector General of Police to act decisively before the situation worsens.

“In the past, thousands left Karachi due to these threats. We cannot allow that to happen again,” he warned.

Former counterterrorism officer Raja Umar Khattab emphasized that police must investigate each report seriously rather than dismissing them as hoaxes.

“The police should classify and investigate every case,” he advised. “They need to determine how the threat was made, how money was demanded, and whether any delivery or communication occurred.”

Khattab added that many extortion threats are now issued digitally — via WhatsApp and foreign SIM cards originating from Iran and Afghanistan — making them harder to trace.

“While these foreign-origin calls are difficult to block, local operatives collecting money can be apprehended,” he said.