Karachi
Six political activists, three each of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were among eight people gunned down in the city, police said on Tuesday.
In a late-night development, two MQM activists, 28-year-old Sarfaraz Ahmed, son of Mukhtiar Ahmed, and 24-year-old Adil, son of Saleem, were targeted in Ranchore Line.
Police said the two MQM activists were sitting near a restaurant, Sadiq Bawarachi House, when two men on a motorcycle arrived there and opened fire on them. Their bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).
The victims were residents of the same area where they were attacked. They were activists of the MQM’s Ranchore Line Sector.
Within half an hour, another MQM activist was killed in Sector 11½ of Orangi Town.
Police said the body of the victim, 40-year-old Aleemuddin alias Papan, was moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH).
The deceased was an activist of the MQM’s Unit 118-A and also an employee of the education department. He was a resident of Sadiqabad UC-7 and left behind a widow and two children.
Three PPP men targeted
The PPP’s People’s Cultural Wing District West president, Shakeel Awan, was attacked in Qaimkhani Colony, Baldia Town.
Mochko SHO Imtiaz Mir Jutt said the victim was found critically injured inside his car and taken to the CHK, where he breathed his last.
The victim also owned towel factories in SITE and New Karachi industrial zones. Preliminary investigations revealed that he was leaving home in the morning and had just sat in his car, when two men on a motorcycle arrived there and sprayed him with bullets.
The deceased suffered multiple bullet wounds on his upper torso and one on the head.
The police found empty 9mm pistol bullet shells at the crime scene.
Investigators believed the murder was a target killing case.
Following the murder, tension gripped parts of Baldia Town as some men fired gunshots in the air and forcibly shut down shops.
PPP leaders and activists reached the hospital, where they staged a protest and accused their rival group of murdering Awan.
Two other PPP men, the party’s District West PS-95 president, Shahid Amjad alias Shaheen Bihari, and an activist, Haroon Bihari, were targeted in Bangla Bazaar, Orangi Town.
SSP Amir Farooqi of the District West said the victims were first taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and later to the Aga Khan Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
During investigations, it was found that Shahid and other party activists including Haroon were sitting near Disco Bakery, when six men on three motorcycles arrived there and opened fire on them.
The SSP said the police found empty 9mm pistol and Kalashnikov bullet shells at the crime scene.
He added that a police constable had been assigned to protect Shahid, but he was not present with him at the time of the attack as he had left to use the restroom a few moments earlier.
However, the SSP added, the constable had been issued a show-cause notice and investigations were under way.
Investigators said the double murder was part of the ongoing target killing spree in the city.
Haroon was also the owner of the bakery near which the attack took place.
Afterwards, violence broke out in Orangi Town as some men fired gunshots in the air and forced closure of shops. PPP leaders and activists again staged a protest, alleging that their rival group had murdered their colleagues.
They also claimed that in the last four years, 100 of their leaders and activists have been killed in the city, 25 of them in Orangi Town.
They demanded that their leadership should ensure the arrest of the people responsible for these murders.
Police constable gunned down
A police constable, 40-year-old Gulzar Ahmed Alvi, was shot dead in Rizvia Society near Nazimabad No 2.
Rizvia SHO Syed Irfan Haider said the police shifted the victim to the ASH, where he died.
The murdered policeman lived near Jaffaria Imambargah in Rizvia Society.
He left home in the morning and was heading towards the Security Zone West where he was posted. While the constable was on his way to the bus stop, two men on a motorcycle opened fire on him.
The deceased suffered two bullet wounds on his upper torso. The police found empty 9mm pistol bullet shells at the crime scene.
The SHO suspected that the constable’s murder could be sectarian in nature, but added that the possibility of personal enmity as the motive would also be probed.
The victim left behind a widow and four children.
Police sources said the Sindh police’s departmental heads had recently transferred 40 policemen from the Rizvia police station to District West, adversely affecting the security situation in the area under its jurisdiction.
They said the area was very sensitive due to the presence of 10 Imambargahs, 40 mosques, 11 banks and four government colleges. Presently, they added, the police station only had 32 personnel, who were facing difficulties in bringing the law and order situation there under control.
Iranian national killed
Late in the night, an Iranian national was murdered in the Faqeer Colony area of Mominabad No 10, Orangi Town. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Waheed Khan of the Pakistan Bazaar Division said the victim, 32-year-old Arman Baloch, was taken to the CHK, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Investigations revealed that the deceased had arrived in the city from Iran a month ago to attend a wedding.
He was sitting outside the house where he was staying, when two men on a motorcycle shot him.
The deceased suffered five bullet wounds on his upper torso. The police found empty 9mm pistol bullet shells at the crime scene.
Investigators termed the murder as yet another target killing case. However, they added, other angles would also be investigated.
Three arrested from Lyari
The Pakistan Rangers Sindh conducted a late night operation in Darya’abad, Lyari and arrested three men, who were wanted by the police in a number of target killing, extortion and kidnapping for ransom cases. The Sindh government had also announced a bounty of Rs0.5 million on one of them, Tariq alias Siyapat.
The Rangers spokesman said Tariq and his two associate were arrested after an encounter. He added that 9mm pistols and hundred of bullets were also recovered from the arrested men’s possession.
Patrolling by police, Rangers to be enhanced
A law and order meeting under the chair of the chief minister of Sindh on Tuesday decided that patrolling by police and Rangers in the city would be enhanced and coordinated action launched against target killers and extortionists.
It was also decided that motorcycles would be properly checked as it had been observed that ii was mostly pillion riders who were involved in incidents of target killings.
The meeting decided that criminals involved in killings would be properly interrogated and kept in jails of other districts of the province.
|