Property dealer shot dead; three arrested

Karachi: A property dealer was gunned down in Ancholi on Wednesday night. Police are interrogating three suspects who were caught while attempting to flee the crime scene.

Syed Abu Haider Raza, 40, was shot dead in Block 20, in the Samanabad police jurisdiction, by unidentified suspects. A passerby, Rizwan Badarul Hassan, 58, was also wounded in the incident. Both men were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Raza was pronounced dead.

A group of a political party’s workers also arrived at the hospital. It is being said the victim had connections with the political party and was also in touch with law enforcement agencies, with some people even suggesting he worked as an informer.

Both the police and the family have denied these claims. Reports said the victim was involved in property-related work and had recently moved from Nazimabad to Ancholi.

Eyewitnesses said that when the suspects, reportedly three in number, were fleeing after shooting the victim, a man in a car chased them, and hit the suspects’ motorbike near Nagan Chowrangi, in the Taimuria police jurisdiction, following which police arrested them.

Police said Raza was shot at when he reached near his house, resulting in injuries to him and a passerby, but Raza breathed his last before reaching the hospital.

SHO Hidayatullah confirmed the incident was a target killing, but the police investigation into the motive behind the murder is under way. Police have collected bullet casings from the scene and sent them to the forensic department for analysis. CCTV camera footage are also being collected.

Raza’s funeral prayers were offered at the Imambargah in Ancholi on Thursday. He was buried at the Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard.