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Lyari, one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Karachi, was once a sleepy lower income area known for its residents of African descent and their craze for football, but it turned into a war zone over the years.
The colourfully named gang leaders sometimes met a worse fate. In 2013, gangster Arshad Pappu was kidnapped, tortured and beheaded. Rival gang members Baba Ladla and Uzair Baloch played football with his head.

The corpses of Pappu and his brother were paraded on a donkey cart before being hacked and burnt. Finally, their ashes were dumped in a sewer. This was Baloch’s method of exacting because Pappu’s father, Haji Lalu, killed Baloch’s father, Faiz Muhammad. Pappu had also desecrated the grave of Dadal, the father of Rehman Dakait, one of the most powerful gangsters.

Challenging Rehman Dakait meant inviting swift retribution and many said it was a wonder Pappu survived so long.

Till 2009, Rehman Dakait was the king of Lyari’s underworld. He was once close to former premier Benazir Bhutto and was seen as a Robin Hood. He ran schools and hospitals, while his gang sold drugs and alcohol and was involved in kidnapping and prostitution rackets.

In Lyari alone, he had 33 dens for illegal activities such as peddling drugs, gambling and trafficking in local beer. Rehman Dakait used his wealth to win over Lyari and tighten his grip on the area.

After he died in a shootout with police in 2009, his cousin Uzair Baloch took charge of the gang.

At one time Pappu’s father and Rehman Dakait’s father were partners. Things were different then.

Haji Lalu was the overlord of Lyari and Dadal was his associate. But Dadal broke away after a row over ransom collected from kidnapping a Memon businessman. That was when the gang split and multiplied into factions.

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