The Balochistan-based National Party’s (NP) Karachi president was among three people gunned down in separate incidents in the city, police said on Monday.

The NP leader, 40-year-old Yaqoob Baloch, who was also a Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) employee, was targeted at the power utility’s office near Al-Hasan Coffee House in Rizvia.

Rizvia SHO Syed Irfan Haider said the victim was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where he breathed his last. The deceased suffered a single bullet wound on his head.

Initial investigations revealed that Baloch was at his office in the afternoon when some men arrived there on a motorcycle and shot him.

The police found empty 30-bore pistol bullet casings at the crime scene, suggesting that the assailants fired many gunshots and the victim tried to escape, but was hit by a single bullet.

The police officer believed that the murder was a target killing case as the deceased was the younger brother of former People’s Aman Committee (PAC) member Anwar Baloch and about six months ago, their rival group had targeted their relative, Siraaj, in Rexcer Lane, Lyari. The SHO suspected that the same group might have murdered the NP leader.

The deceased was a resident of Old Golimar and attended his office once a week. He was there as per his schedule when he was targeted.

Following the murder, tension gripped the Nazimabad, Rizvia and Baloch Para areas, where some men fired gunshots in the air and forcibly shut down shops. Police and Rangers brought the situation under control in these troubled areas after facing stiff resistance from the miscreants for hours.

Late in the night, a clash broke out between two groups in Pak Colony. The police believed that the fighting was linked to the NP leader’s murder.

Baloch was the third KESC employee murdered in the ongoing target killing spree in recent days. On June 26, a deputy general manager and a driver of the power utility were gunned down in separate incidents.

ST supporter murdered

A bullet-riddled body was found near Gul Plaza in Saddar in the morning.

Nabi Bux SHO Naseeruddin Shah said the body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and a message about the discovery aired on the police control system.

A family approached the police and identified the deceased as 25-year-old Imtiaz, son of Saleem, a resident of Ranchore Line, Eidgah. The family told the police that the deceased worked at a printing press with his elder brother in Preedy.

On Sunday night, Imtiaz had left home to buy milk, however an hour passed by and he did not return. The family became worried and tried to contact him on his cell phone, but it was switched off.

The family left home to search for him and learnt that Imtiaz had been kidnapped.

The SHO said some criminals kidnapped the victim and tortured him. He said the kidnappers might have brought him to the area where the body was found and shot him.

The deceased suffered three bullet wounds on his upper torso. Investigators suspected that the murder was another target killing case as the victim was a Sunni Tehreek (ST) supporter. However, they added, the possibility of personal enmity as the motive would also be probed.

Body found in PIB Colony

Another body was found behind Ahmed Halwai Shop in PIB Colony in the afternoon.

PIB Colony SHO Tasawer Ameer said the body was shifted to the JPMC. Empty 30-bore pistol bullet shells were found at the crime scene.

The SHO said a message was aired on the police control system about the body. However, by the time this story was filed, no one had approached the police for identifying the deceased.

The police officer said the deceased appeared to be Baloch and the murder could be a target killing case. However, he added, the motive could only be established after the victim was identified.

Unrest in Water Pump and Ancholi areas

Unrest gripped the Water Pump and Ancholi areas during the funeral of Habib Rizvi, a member of the Shia sect, who was targeted on Sunday night.

Police said some men fired gunshots in the air and also damaged public and private properties. Miscreants on motorcycles attacked the shopkeepers in Anarkali Bazaar and damaged their goods.

Reacting to the attack, the traders of the bazaar blocked Shahrea Pakistan and demanded the arrest of the miscreants. However, they ended their protest when the police assured them that attackers would be arrested soon.

At least five people belonging to the Shia sect were murdered in the city in the month of June.