‘Sultan Da Khoo’ emperor of spare parts

The market carries spare parts from old to the new

There seems to be no exaggeration in the fact that, one can assemble a car by purchasing spare parts. Sultan Da Khoo, is a second-hand and smuggled goods automobile body, and engine parts market in Rawalpindi.

Located in the heart of city, it is one of the biggest second hand automobile auto parts markets in the country. From a simple nut-bolts to engines; or automobile body parts, they are readily available and sold on relatively cheaper rates.

The second-hand, smuggled spare parts are called ‘Kabli parts’ in local jargon. The spare parts are considered genuine, as they are mainly brought here from Japan. Majority of the people who are involved in this business, belong to Afghanistan; therefore, the name Kabli is used for spare parts.

“Long ago, Bilal Ganj, a spare parts market in Lahore, held its status as the leading market. It however, lost its crown to the Rawalpindi and Peshawar spare parts market. Nowadays, they lead in this trade”. Abdullah Gul who deals in the business of engines of imported Japanese cars at Sultan Da Khoo informed Bol News.

He stated that the old spare parts are no longer smuggled from Afghanistan; and they are directly being imported from Japan and Dubai. Because of the imports, the prices of the spare parts have shot up. He shared his concern regarding the ever increase in the dollar rates, stating, that the rates directly impact the business.

Most of the spare parts are imported as scrap from these countries, to avoid excess customs and other duties.  In cases even the new engines are shown as scrap with the alleged connivance of the customs officials, another dealer of spare parts in Raabi Market at Sultan Da Khoo, stated.

Abdullah Gul said that “there are around 700 shops at Sultan Da Khoo. The market is swelling into the residential area behind the main markets”.

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“Traffic on the road passing through the spare parts market remains chocked most of the time. This is because of the rush of customers throughout the day. Therefore, a good number of people dealing in this business have shifted to IJP Road in Rawalpindi Cantonment Board area” added Gul. “I have also established a big warehouse at Katcha Stop on IJP Road where we are dealing in only the spare parts of imported Japanese cars”, he said. He added that “as the area is equally accessible to the residents of the Federal Capital, the business is thriving there”.

According to Shoaib, a customer at the Sultan Da Khoo market said that,”The market at Katcha Stop on IJP Road is a bit expensive”. He was in search of a generator for his Honda Civic 2005 model.

“You can get spare parts ranging from a brand new Corolla to the 1980 model vehicles,” Gul said adding smilingly, that even the spare parts of the 1962 Volkswagen Beetle were also available in a few shops. Shoaib, who resides in I-9 Islamabad, said that he first went to Katcha Stop, but could not find any generator. According to him Sultan Da Khoo is, where one can find a spare part for anything regarding the imported cars. It is a market for the spare parts of imported Japanese cars. One can even get a Kabli engine of the latest Vitz or any latest model of a Honda or any other imported car.

Stressing upon the name of the spare parts, Gul explains that majority of the businessmen are of Afghan origin. According to him, initially, these parts came as scrap under the Afghan Transit Trade; but those dealing in the business somehow managed to get it cleared from customs officials at Peshawar dry-port, instead of taking them to Afghanistan,  the same were smuggled into Pakistani markets, mainly in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

During the defunct USSR invasion of Afghanistan, there was displacement of Afghan nationals at large scale. Some of the Afghan nationals went to Japan, where they started the business of second-hand spare parts. Back in the day, the Pakistani Government was lenient to the Afghan nationals. The Afghans started this business with ease and the business saw a boom during those years.  Abdullah Gul recalls how his father had stepped into this business in the mid-80’s. They had started their business with selling of shock observers of various vehicles in a small shop. But with the passage of time, they expanded their business; and now,  they are dealing in the engines of the Japanese cars, and complete front and rear suspension of new model vehicles. Rahim Khan, dealing in smuggled new and old tyres at Tamasmabad Chowk on eastern end of Sultan Da Khoo, said that the smuggled ‘Kabli tyres’ “are far better than the new local and Chinese brand tyres”.

Some of the imported tyres are brand new; some are three to four years old; which some people don’t like to use. However, many think it fine as the tyres are more durable and as good as new local and Chinese tyres. There is however, another aspect of Sultan Da Khoo, as some people believe that the cars stolen from across the country, probably end up there.

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The car lifters, sell the stolen vehicles, or parts of the vehicle to people in remote areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa. The cars are usually dismantled, if not done so already, into pieces and then the pieces are dispatched to the old spare parts markets, labeling it as Kabli spares.

In the past, the police had busted many gangs involved in the business of car lifting, and selling it to people in Tribal Areas where these vehicles were either smuggled to Afghanistan or were dismantled and sold in these spare parts markets.

Insiders of the Police Department said that, in certain cases, the gangs of car lifters are patronized by influential people, which ends up with the case being closed.  But contrary to all this; the second hand and smuggled spare parts markets are in a way blessing for the middle class. They can manage the maintenance of otherwise costly job of their vehicles on much cheaper and affordable rates.