MQM-P union councillor shot dead

A union councillor belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was killed in an attack in Orangi Town on Friday night.

Thirty-five-year-old Anees, son of Mohammad Hanif, was targeted in his office near Toori Bangash Chowk in the Iqbal Market police remit. He was meeting members of the public in the office, which is situated next to his residence, when two men wearing masks arrived, opened fire on him and fled.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Omer Shahid Hamid of District West said police attended the scene and took the man to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The victim suffered a single bullet wound to his chest.

The police found spent bullet shells of a 30- bore pistol from the spot and sent them to the forensic division of the Sindh Police for examination. Preliminary investigations showed Anees was a resident of the same area and the union councillor of UC-26, Iqbal Market. He was also a former unit incharge of the MQM- Pakistan.

SSP Hamid said the murder seemed to be a target killing, but other aspects would also be investigated. A case has been registered and an investigation is under way.

A day earlier, an attack that police believed was sectarian in nature left a 52-year-old man dead and two others, including a two-year-old child, fighting for their lives. A car with three passengers – Ameer Ali, aged 52, Ali Raza, 28 and two-year-old Ali Asghar – was fired upon by unidentified attackers who were on a motorcycle.

The attack, said Sachal Goth police SHO Syed Shakir Ali, took place near a branch of Bank Al-Habib in Scheme 33. He said the killers fired incessantly at the victims’ car. He confirmed that the killers managed to make an unimpeded escape from the area. The three victims were rushed to a nearby private healthcare facility where Ameer passed away.