RescueRanger
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
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Greed, corruption and collusion!
Back in 2012 a horrifying case of gross negligence and corruption came to light, which not only cost at least 13 lives of Karachi policemen in the infamous Lyari operation but also grievously damaged the government strategy to combat militancy in the troubled Karachi neighborhood.
There were multiple articles in the news at the time that lack of due diligence by Sindh Police during procurement and a quality control blunder by the manufacturer had resulted in the loss of precious lives of police officers.
1. As various reports in Pakistani newspapers at the time stated the plating on the so called APCs was reported to be 6mm much less than the required level of protection.
2. There was debate about the quality control of the APCs and the 'Mohafiz' in general.
I created this blog to dispel some myths and false information that had been spread on the internet at the time. For example, in the news article quoted in this report the mohafiz was the APC that failed during the Lyari operation.
For starters the vehicles used in the Lyari operation ranged from Talah APC, XDS LAV which refurbished and retrofitted old Land rover armored vehicles purchased by Sindh Police in the early 90's and 18 Mohafiz Mark II which is marketed as a SAV: Security Armored Vehicles and not as APC (Armored Personnel Carriers).
Interestingly the image that caught the media's attention during the Lyari Operation was that of a bullet ridden armored vehicle that to the untrained eye looked a lot like a mohafiz Mark II manufactured by HIT, Taxila
Damaged Police armored vehicle in Lyari.
Whilst this image may be mistaken for a Mohaifz Mark II, there are some subtle but critical differences, for instance the Mohafiz II which was sold to Sindh Police by HIT had a welded Aluminium Armour hull with ricochet angles all round as can be seen in the second picture and is also mentioned in a performance measurement report by HITEC University Dept of Engineering Taxlia, supervised by Col(R) Syed Irshad.
I am not for one minute claiming that any vehicle rated to B6 can provide protection against sustained attack with AP rounds and incendiary devices. However, what I wanted to examine was a clear case of poor craftsmanship and quality control and if HIT didn't manufacture this vehicle, then who did?
Enter XDS:
My research led me to discover a company that shot up to fame during the President Musharraf era, that company was XDS Pvt Limited also registered in Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as Xtreme Defence Systems (Private) Limited.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan records show that XDS was registered in 2006 and operated till 2013. Further inquiries with SECP revealed that it's director was none other than Nadeem Raja who along with his business partner Khurram Hamirani were arrested in November 2009 for illegally importing armor kits and manufacturing 'APCs' without an NOC (No Objection Certificate) under PCI heading 8710.0000.
XDS operated largely out of a workshop in the I-8 Sector of Islamabad where they were engaged in the business of retrofitting luxury vehicles with armored plating kits imported from the middle-east using the import and export permit of FIVE CORE (PVT) LTD, Fl-3,Block-B,Opp:Race Course,Main Malir Cantt. Road,MPCP Gate 6 , Karachi.
According to my sources in the military and law enforcement, XDS illegally used it's NOC No.F-5/20/2008-Security-1 which was provided by the home department of Sindh in 2008 for operations as a security guard company to enter the business of armored vehicle manufacturing.
The company had been retrofitting vehicles luxury SUVs for local high-net worth individuals, politicians, INGOs prior to 2008 with their first client being CEO for a Karachi based Hauler working on the NATO/ISAF Pakistan to Afghanistan GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) supply route for perishable goods.
A close source in Sindh Police informed me that sometime between 2006 and 2008 XDS approached Sindh police and proposed to retrofit one of their many condemned Land Rover One Ten armored vehicles which were no longer serviceable and were parked in the MT Pool.
The condemned LR 110 Armored vehicle which was parked in the Central Nazarath.
Another angle of the vehicle captures the Sindh Police registration number printed on the vehicle.
As the above picture clearly shows the original chassis was no longer fit for purpose. It was this vehicle that XDS proposed to refurbish and retrofit for Sindh Police as an 'APC'. The company even used a plate tested and belonging to H.I.T on their marketing material, see image below:
This image shows the 6.4mm plate used in Mark II Mohafiz by H.I.T and was shamelessly used by XDS in their marketing material to gain credibility.
Now some people out there will argue that the Mohafiz used by Sindh Police were also damaged during the Lyari operation and I am being unduly bias against XDS. The Mohafiz Mark I, II and III are all based on a Land rover 90 chassis and designed with the expertise and experience of H.I.T has proven itself to be is a tested platform which has saved the lives of police officers being hit directly by an I.E.D.
This was not the case with the XDS LAV which caught fire after it's fuel tank ruptured and the reason for this will become apparent after you see the images below which show different stages of the refurbishment of the Landrover 110 chassis by XDS for Sindh Police:
Grinding and sanding of the original chassis which would have weakened the quality and bonding of the armor plating.
As we can see in this photo the chassis of the vehicle is heavily rusted and XDS recycled the existing chassis for their 'APC'. Another example of corporate greed playing with peoples lives, this chassis is no no state to support a 4.2ltr TD engine let alone the added weight of an armored hull.
XDS decided to retain the external fuel cap without any plating.
Whereas similar vehicles designed for police use MUST have a specially secured and armored fuel cap to comply with CEN 1063 standards.
Notice the lack of shin protection or under vehicle armor in this photo, there is also no isolation of the engine block from the drive cabin.
This picture clearly shows a standard fuel tank being used in the vehicle.
All armored vehicles are fitted with an armored fuel tank and vehicles rated B6 and above have armored fuel tanks covered with an extra layer of plating to protect from explosion.
Notice the exposed engine block.
Interior refurbishment
Recycled existing turret!
Notice the lack of shin protection.
In this photo, apart form mainly cosmetic changes and the addition of new ballistic glass panels, no new plating has been added to the interior cabin or side ballistic plate.
Again the purpose of sharing these pictures and writing this is to highlight the sheer incompetence of the procurement department of Sindh Police, the technical consultants hired by Sindh Police for selection and trialing of armored vehicles and ultimately XDS putting their own greed above the lives of police and security officials.
In the above pictures we can clearly see that no additional plating has been added to the vehicle, if anything the grinding and sanding of rush and re-weld has weakened the what little integrity the original hull had left.
The end result of this unbridled greed and corruption is the death of police officers in the execution of their lawful duties during the Lyari operation.
What is even more worrying is that before the authorities were able to shut down the XDS operation, XDS had managed to sell a further 14 'refurbished' vehicles to FC, see pictures below:
One of the 14 vehicles manufactured for F.C by XDS.
Based on the images above and the illegal practices of XDS, the vehicles manufactured and sold by XDS to law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are NOT fit for purpose and are a disaster waiting to happen.
First published on my blog, Creative Commons License 4.0
Back in 2012 a horrifying case of gross negligence and corruption came to light, which not only cost at least 13 lives of Karachi policemen in the infamous Lyari operation but also grievously damaged the government strategy to combat militancy in the troubled Karachi neighborhood.
There were multiple articles in the news at the time that lack of due diligence by Sindh Police during procurement and a quality control blunder by the manufacturer had resulted in the loss of precious lives of police officers.
1. As various reports in Pakistani newspapers at the time stated the plating on the so called APCs was reported to be 6mm much less than the required level of protection.
2. There was debate about the quality control of the APCs and the 'Mohafiz' in general.
I created this blog to dispel some myths and false information that had been spread on the internet at the time. For example, in the news article quoted in this report the mohafiz was the APC that failed during the Lyari operation.
For starters the vehicles used in the Lyari operation ranged from Talah APC, XDS LAV which refurbished and retrofitted old Land rover armored vehicles purchased by Sindh Police in the early 90's and 18 Mohafiz Mark II which is marketed as a SAV: Security Armored Vehicles and not as APC (Armored Personnel Carriers).
Interestingly the image that caught the media's attention during the Lyari Operation was that of a bullet ridden armored vehicle that to the untrained eye looked a lot like a mohafiz Mark II manufactured by HIT, Taxila
Damaged Police armored vehicle in Lyari.
Whilst this image may be mistaken for a Mohaifz Mark II, there are some subtle but critical differences, for instance the Mohafiz II which was sold to Sindh Police by HIT had a welded Aluminium Armour hull with ricochet angles all round as can be seen in the second picture and is also mentioned in a performance measurement report by HITEC University Dept of Engineering Taxlia, supervised by Col(R) Syed Irshad.
I am not for one minute claiming that any vehicle rated to B6 can provide protection against sustained attack with AP rounds and incendiary devices. However, what I wanted to examine was a clear case of poor craftsmanship and quality control and if HIT didn't manufacture this vehicle, then who did?
Enter XDS:
My research led me to discover a company that shot up to fame during the President Musharraf era, that company was XDS Pvt Limited also registered in Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as Xtreme Defence Systems (Private) Limited.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan records show that XDS was registered in 2006 and operated till 2013. Further inquiries with SECP revealed that it's director was none other than Nadeem Raja who along with his business partner Khurram Hamirani were arrested in November 2009 for illegally importing armor kits and manufacturing 'APCs' without an NOC (No Objection Certificate) under PCI heading 8710.0000.
XDS operated largely out of a workshop in the I-8 Sector of Islamabad where they were engaged in the business of retrofitting luxury vehicles with armored plating kits imported from the middle-east using the import and export permit of FIVE CORE (PVT) LTD, Fl-3,Block-B,Opp:Race Course,Main Malir Cantt. Road,MPCP Gate 6 , Karachi.
According to my sources in the military and law enforcement, XDS illegally used it's NOC No.F-5/20/2008-Security-1 which was provided by the home department of Sindh in 2008 for operations as a security guard company to enter the business of armored vehicle manufacturing.
The company had been retrofitting vehicles luxury SUVs for local high-net worth individuals, politicians, INGOs prior to 2008 with their first client being CEO for a Karachi based Hauler working on the NATO/ISAF Pakistan to Afghanistan GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) supply route for perishable goods.
A close source in Sindh Police informed me that sometime between 2006 and 2008 XDS approached Sindh police and proposed to retrofit one of their many condemned Land Rover One Ten armored vehicles which were no longer serviceable and were parked in the MT Pool.
The condemned LR 110 Armored vehicle which was parked in the Central Nazarath.
Another angle of the vehicle captures the Sindh Police registration number printed on the vehicle.
As the above picture clearly shows the original chassis was no longer fit for purpose. It was this vehicle that XDS proposed to refurbish and retrofit for Sindh Police as an 'APC'. The company even used a plate tested and belonging to H.I.T on their marketing material, see image below:
This image shows the 6.4mm plate used in Mark II Mohafiz by H.I.T and was shamelessly used by XDS in their marketing material to gain credibility.
Now some people out there will argue that the Mohafiz used by Sindh Police were also damaged during the Lyari operation and I am being unduly bias against XDS. The Mohafiz Mark I, II and III are all based on a Land rover 90 chassis and designed with the expertise and experience of H.I.T has proven itself to be is a tested platform which has saved the lives of police officers being hit directly by an I.E.D.
This was not the case with the XDS LAV which caught fire after it's fuel tank ruptured and the reason for this will become apparent after you see the images below which show different stages of the refurbishment of the Landrover 110 chassis by XDS for Sindh Police:
Grinding and sanding of the original chassis which would have weakened the quality and bonding of the armor plating.
As we can see in this photo the chassis of the vehicle is heavily rusted and XDS recycled the existing chassis for their 'APC'. Another example of corporate greed playing with peoples lives, this chassis is no no state to support a 4.2ltr TD engine let alone the added weight of an armored hull.
XDS decided to retain the external fuel cap without any plating.
Whereas similar vehicles designed for police use MUST have a specially secured and armored fuel cap to comply with CEN 1063 standards.
Notice the lack of shin protection or under vehicle armor in this photo, there is also no isolation of the engine block from the drive cabin.
This picture clearly shows a standard fuel tank being used in the vehicle.
All armored vehicles are fitted with an armored fuel tank and vehicles rated B6 and above have armored fuel tanks covered with an extra layer of plating to protect from explosion.
Notice the exposed engine block.
Interior refurbishment
Recycled existing turret!
Notice the lack of shin protection.
In this photo, apart form mainly cosmetic changes and the addition of new ballistic glass panels, no new plating has been added to the interior cabin or side ballistic plate.
Again the purpose of sharing these pictures and writing this is to highlight the sheer incompetence of the procurement department of Sindh Police, the technical consultants hired by Sindh Police for selection and trialing of armored vehicles and ultimately XDS putting their own greed above the lives of police and security officials.
In the above pictures we can clearly see that no additional plating has been added to the vehicle, if anything the grinding and sanding of rush and re-weld has weakened the what little integrity the original hull had left.
The end result of this unbridled greed and corruption is the death of police officers in the execution of their lawful duties during the Lyari operation.
What is even more worrying is that before the authorities were able to shut down the XDS operation, XDS had managed to sell a further 14 'refurbished' vehicles to FC, see pictures below:
One of the 14 vehicles manufactured for F.C by XDS.
Vehicle in service.
Based on the images above and the illegal practices of XDS, the vehicles manufactured and sold by XDS to law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are NOT fit for purpose and are a disaster waiting to happen.
First published on my blog, Creative Commons License 4.0
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