But as soon as the governor's rule was imposed in Karachi in October, the feared policeman was brought back overnight. And he led the arrests against the MQM activists and leaders in the Hakim Saeed murder case. More recently, he led the police party that nabbed a senior MQM leader forpossessing illegal weapons.

Despite his notoriety, Khan is unrepentant about what he has done. The accusations of carrying out extra-judicial killings is ``propaganda started off by the MQM''. After 17 years of police service in Karachi, Anwar Khan, who is from Punjab, says that he is happy for trying to crush terrorism in Karachi.

But his life is always in danger. His name tops many hit lists uncovered by the government. A fact that he retells proudly. A colleague, Inspector Bahadur Ali, who was also doing work on the lines of Anwar Khan, was gunned down in a Karachi street in 1997.

Since then, many policemen associated with the operation against the MQM were killed by unidentified gunmen. In the case of Anwar Khan, he says that while life is in the hands of God, he isn't taking any chances: he has six trusted bodyguards that move with him wherever he goes. ``I have sent my family to Multan and have guards there too. In Karachi, its just police work. No social life. No recreation,'' he tells. Despitebeing a decorated officer, Khan knows that he is not liked for the work that he has done; is brought back to do. But he says that eradicating terrorism in Karachi is his mission and he owes this to his fellow Pakistanis.

Anwar Khan is happy with the government's decision to set up military courts in Sindh province. He says that when he arrested notorious terrorists, they were ``let off on bail'' by judges. ``These men went off and started committing the same crimes again,'' he says, adding, ``I know that won't happen now.''

Even Anwar Khan says that things can't continue the way they are. But he stops short of giving a solution: ``That's not my job,'' he says.

What he does predict is, however, quite startling. According to Inspector Anwar Khan, Karachi will see some more violence before things settle down. ``The MQM is armed to the teeth. They are preparing for confrontation,'' he says. But he is quick to add, ``This time, we are ready.'' The question, however, is whether the people of Karachi are readyfor this.