‘Hitman’ shot dead, two others arrested in pre-dawn Rangers raid

The Sindh Rangers on Saturday claimed to have killed a hitman and arrested two others after injuring them during a pre-dawn shootout on the outskirts of Karachi.

The spokesman for the paramilitary force said the soldiers had received credible intelligence-based information that notorious target killers were hiding in the Manghopir neighbourhood of Gadap Town.

He said that taking action on the information received, the Rangers, with the assistance of the local police, conducted a raid in the area. When the suspects saw the raiding team approach, they opened fire on them.

The Rangers and police officials countered the pre-emptive attack and, after a brief encounter, arrested three injured suspects. The detainees were identified as Abdullah Mehsud, Shabbirullah, alias Sheena, and Muhammad Sohail, while two others managed to escape from the scene.

The wounded suspects were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Mehsud succumbed to his injuries. The raiding team also seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition, as well as two motorbikes that had been snatched in Manghopir two days ago.

The Rangers spokesman said Mehsud’s gang consisted of 10 members, who were involved in robberies and kidnappings for ransom, as well as in targeting law enforcers.

Detailing the criminal activities of the gang, he said that during March this year they had shot and injured a man and two women at the Sohrab Goth Bridge after the family refused to fulfil the criminals’ demand for extortion.

The gang also shot at police constables Abid Ali and Tariq the following month, as well as killed Samiullah and Gul Aaka Khel in July near the Indus Plaza in Sohrab Goth. That same month they had a shootout with the police in Ghanjaar Goth, but they managed to flee.

The criminals had shot and injured a Rangers soldier in Manghopir during a mugging attempt, while this month they attacked a van of the forensic department of the police in the Sachal police jurisdiction and managed to escape.

The spokesman for the paramilitary force said the gang had been very much active in the Sohrab Goth, Ghanjaar Goth, Gulshan-e-Maymar, New Karachi, Manghopir, Super Highway and Sabzi Mandi areas under Mehsud’s command.

21 more suspects held

During more targeted raids conducted in different parts of the city, the Rangers soldiers arrested 21 suspects. They also seized weapons, looted items and narcotics from the detainees and handed over the suspects and the recovered items to the police.

The Rangers spokesman said the soldiers conducted a targeted raid in Sohrab Goth and arrested a man named Muhammad Hussain for his involvement in kidnappings.

The paramilitary force arrested 14 more suspects during raids carried out in the Gadap City, Mobina Town, Garden, Brigade, Nazimabad, Saeedabad and Kharadar areas of the city.

The detainees were identified as Noor Alam, Muhammad Rizwan, Naseer Ahmed, Muhammad Salman, Asif Ali, Salman Khan, alias Shuna Khan, Muhammad Shani, Muhammad Asif, alias Shakir, Muhammad Sufian, Shahid, alias Dada, Ahmed, alias Shahrukh, Shahzeb, Muhammad Arsalan and Nadeem. The spokesman said they were involved in robberies and street crime.

The Rangers troops have also conducted

During their raids in the Gadap, Kalakot and Jackson areas, the Rangers arrested Rahim Khan, Rehman Gul, Jamil, Kashif, Noor Islam and Tariq Khan for their involvement in operating drug dens in their respective areas.