Notorious Lyari gangster Baba Ladla killed in Rangers shootout

KARACHI: Notorious Lyari gangster Noor Muhammad alias Baba Ladla was killed early Thursday morning along with his two accomplices in a shootout, Sindh Rangers confirmed.

According to a Rangers spokesperson, in an intelligence-based operation paramilitary forces arrived at the Lyari's Phoolpatti lane. Suspects hidden inside houses fired at the personnel from the rooftop. In retaliatory fire, three suspects were killed on the spot while three others managed to flee.

Sources informed that accomplices killed along with the prime suspect were Sikandar alias Sikko and Ladla`s uncle, Yaseen Baloch. At least one LEA personnel was injured in the operation. As many as 15 Rangers` mobiles were used in this operation.    

Ranger's press release can be viewed here

The deceased gangsters were shifted to Civil Hospital for medico-legal formalities, after their post-mortem the deceased will be shifted to Edhi morgue. Heavy contingents of police and Rangers is deployed around the hospital.  

Ladla was wanted by Sindh government for more than 100 murders, attempts to murder and extortion cases. His name was in Sindh Police’s ‘Red Book’ with Rs 1,000,000 bounty for his capture.

A hand grenade and automatic weapons were recovered from the terrorists, a statement by Rangers said.

 

Baba Ladla - Profile

The Lyari gangster was known for playing football with heads of his opponents. According to sources, Ladla joined Rehman Dakait’s gang-war group after failing to find a job. 

“After he passed his class VIII exams in 1990, his uncle Hameed alias Chachu, who was a friend of the late Usman Ghani, a PPP leader, got him a clerical job at a bank on II Chundrigar Road,” said one of his profiles published in a local newspaper. 

In 2014, the Interpol had issued red warrants for Ladla along with Uzair Baloch – the chief of Ladla’s rival Lyari gang-war group. The warrants stated his date of birth as October 10, 1974 with no mentions about his profession. Some media reports suggest that he fled to UAE and then to Iran following the launch of a major crackdown against criminals and terrorists in Karachi Operation. 

According to journalist Ammar Shahbazi: “Three characters played the central role in Lyari’s story of 2013: Uzair Baloch, Zafar Baloch and Baba Ladla. The power of this troika had made the Aman Committee a migraine for both its rivals and the law enforcement agencies alike. It was Ladla’s muscle, Zafar’s brains and Uzair’s goodwill combined that made PAC a force to reckon with.”

“Ladla helped make Uzair so powerful in Lyari that even the PPP had to cave in to his demands when the party wanted to nominate its candidates for the May 11 general elections,” he added: “But along the way, cracks begin to appear in the relationship between Uzair and Ladla.”