ISLAMABAD: A top business body in Pakistan’s commercial capital, Karachi, has issued an urgent security advisory to its members following a sharp uptick in extortion threats, warning traders to install CCTV systems as cases of intimidation and violence rise across the city.
In a circular dated October 4 and seen by Arab News, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said business owners have reported receiving “extortion chits accompanied by bullets, with demands for heavy extortion money,” describing the situation as “extremely alarming.”
“The recordings of such CCTV footage may be shared with KCCI, enabling the Chamber to escalate the matter to the concerned authorities with concrete evidence to ensure swift action and the arrest of those involved in such heinous crimes,” the letter read.
The advisory comes amid growing concerns from Karachi’s trader and industrialist community, many of whom say extortion attempts once quelled by years of security operations have made a troubling comeback in recent weeks.
“There has been a surge in the incidents of extortion in recent weeks, which prompted us to bring the issue to the attention of the authorities as well as alert our members and ask them to install CCTV cameras,” Javed Bilwani, President of
KCCI, told Arab News. “But we believe that the menace of extortion cannot be eliminated until the Safe City project is completed.”
Bilwani said complaints had been received from a broad cross-section of Karachi’s business community, including traders, builders and industrialists, with extortion threats targeting both commercial and residential premises.
“They advised us to issue a circular and raise awareness among our members,” Bilwani said, referring to security officials without naming anyone. “That they should install cameras in their houses, in their businesses, in their industries. Builders should install cameras in their buildings.”
In a video statement shared with the media, Atiq Mir, President of the Karachi Tajir Ittehad (Traders Alliance), warned that Karachi’s merchants were again “at the mercy of extortionists.”
“Most of the shops and shopkeepers are getting calls. Bullets are being wrapped in sheets and sent,” Mir said, adding that the callers even threaten children of members of the business community.
Mir called on senior officials, including the Sindh chief minister and the Inspector General of Police, to take urgent action.
“In the past, thousands of people left Karachi and went away,” he added. “Even now, it should not be the case that relocation resumes and this city becomes a complete jungle.”
Former senior counterterrorism officer Raja Umar Khattab said authorities must investigate such calls systematically.
“The police should not simply label these incidents as hoax calls. They need to classify and investigate them,” Khattab told Arab News. “Questions the police should ask include how genuine the threat is, how the money was demanded, what was delivered, and what message was received.”
Khattab noted that while modern-day extortionists often operate on a smaller scale than in the past, they still pose a serious challenge.
“Nowadays, they sometimes simulate violence,” he said. “They may show a picture of a bullet to intimidate people.”
According to Khattab, many threats are now issued through WhatsApp using foreign SIMs, especially from Iran and Afghanistan, making them harder to trace.
“Calls from Iranian or Afghan SIMs are hard to stop at the source, but local operatives, the ‘foot soldiers’ who collect money here can be caught.”
He dismissed any current involvement of militant groups, saying the extortion racket is being driven by organized criminal gangs, some led by known ringleaders who have rebuilt networks after being released from jail.
“These are criminal gangs,” he emphasized. “This is an extortion and organized crime issue, not terrorism.”
A Karachi police spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
