KARACHI: As firefighters succeeded in dousing the flames engulfing more than 2,000 shops on M.A. Jinnah Road following over 20 hours of effort on Tuesday, they found ‘obvious’ signs of chemicals used in the arson, lending credence to the suspicions of traders and investigators who see the arson as a premeditated and well-planned strike after a deadly attack on the Muharram procession that killed about 43 people on Monday.

Though the traders of more than a dozen wholesale markets found themselves clueless to the reason behind the violent reaction of the bomb attack, investigators, perhaps for the first time in the violent history of Karachi, enjoy immense technological edge provided by the city government’s command and control system.

“Our system has recorded each and every movement,” claimed City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal. “We offered the facility to the police for the procession’s surveillance despite the fact that it’s not our responsibility to make security arrangements. But we will do the same if they need help in investigations.”

The city nazim, who monitored the firefighting operation in the nearly 18 different wholesale markets housed in various buildings on M.A. Jinnah Road, said the firemen performed 36-hour duty before and after the tragic events despite the fact that they faced stiff resistance from arsonists who attacked the fire tenders and firefighters.

A few firefighters Dawn spoke to termed the blaze the worst in decades which went wild due to arson coupled with flammable products in different shops and stores.

“There are visible signs of phosphorus used in the fires,” said an official at the city government’s fire department. “Further description of the particular chemical used in the arson can only be established through proper chemical examination, which has not been ordered from any side, including the investigation agencies.”

He said the markets were set on fire one by one in a matter of minutes on M.A. Jinnah Road and the blaze raged from shop to shop and floor to floor.

Though the city police still look for more clues to the number of and links to the suspected suicide bomber, the investigators said they had acquired all the footage recorded by the city government’s surveillance cameras, which could help spot the arsonists.

“We have been analysing and further enhancing the footage to make them more effective,” said Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed. “A sabotage attempt behind the fires can’t be ruled out but there is a question mark over the capability and performance of our fire department.”

He referred to the fact that delays in the arrival of fire tenders to the scene finally forced the police to call a recently-acquired anti-riot vehicle carrying 2,000 gallons of water for firefighting.

Ateeq Meer, the chairman of the Alliance of Market Associations, a common platform for nearly 300 markets and traders’ associations, echoed the same sentiments. But he also blamed the police for not rising to the occasion.

“They left the arsonists free to do what they willed,” he said. “Iqbal Market, Light House market of cloth, Kapra Market with wholesales markets of imported FMCGs (fast moving consumers goods), perfumes, glasses, chemical and medicine have been burnt to ashes. It has already made some 12,500 people unemployed as they were directly associated with the business in these markets, and turned about 2,500 traders into paupers.”

He cited the initial assessment, which estimated that more than Rs30 billion worth of losses were suffered by the traders, but was not ready to believe the government’s announcement for compensation.

“It has been more than two years when the government had come up with the same lollypops following violence in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination,” Mr Meer said. “They would again set up a committee to assess the damages, claims and then recommend just peanuts. That didn’t work in the past, neither it will work in the future.”