Trader gunned down in Karachi's Manghopir

An abaya trader was shot dead apparently in an act of targeted killing in Karachi’s Manghopir area, said Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police on Tuesday. According to the police, two unidentified men targeted the victim when he was going to his shop in his car along with his son, Qasim.

The man died at the scene and his body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was identified as 38-year-old Khudadad, son of Zahir Khan, the police said, adding that the deceased was a resident of Mughal Hazara Goth in Manghopir and used to run an abaya shop in Bolten Market.

The police have obtained the incident’s CCTV footage which showed two assailants – one wearing a helmet and the other wearing a cap. The police said the motorcyclists could be seen chasing the car and targeting the victim. The CCTV footage also showed some policemen present near the crime scene who attempted to intercept the suspects but they managed to escape after a brief encounter. Police said the motive behind the incident was yet to be ascertained.

However, condemning the incident, the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen called it a part of “the ongoing targeted killings of the Shia community members”. The MWM spokesperson said it was a sectarian-based targeted killing incident that occurred in broad daylight. He said it showed “a criminal negligence of the law enforcers and puts a question mark on their performance”. The spokesperson appealed the higher authorities to take immediate notice of the incident and arrest the culprits behind the incident.

Car snatched

Despite increased snap-checking and police-picketing, a gang of six carjackers snatched a car at gunpoint in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday.

The carjackers sat in the car and drove for a little while, before dropping Zubair Ansari, an officer with a multinational company, in the SITE area. The suspects also looted cash and other valuables from him before fleeing.

The Gulshan-e-Iqbal police said the incident took place near Ansari’s office. The victim’s son, Omar Ansari, told the police that the suspects sat in the car and told his father to deactivate the tracker before dropping him.