KARACHI, Oct 11: Only a day after a police constable had been shot dead in a targeted attack in North Nazimabad, an assistant sub-inspector was gunned down near his home in Kunwari Colony on Thursday, bringing the number of police officials killed in the city during the current year to 65.

While many of the cases have remained unsolved, the city police chief cited a variety of reasons for the unending wave of policemen’s killings including their proactive approach in policing, personal enmity and their association with the investigation of heinous crimes.

ASI Shahjehan, 45, was sprayed with bullets near his Kunwari Colony residence situated close to the terminal of F-11 route minibuses, said a duty officer of the Pirabad police station.

He quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the attackers just walked away after opening fire on him in the street. The official sustained a dozen of gunshot wounds and died on the spot, he added.

The police investigators collected more than a dozen spent bullet casings of 9mm and 30-bore pistols from the crime scene.

Pirabad SHO Ashfaque Baloch said that the ASI had been posted at the Manghopir police station before he was transferred to the motor transport department in Orangi Town a month ago.

“The killing seemed related to the recent killings of the policemen in the Manghopir area,” he said.

He quoted some eyewitnesses as saying that the attackers had beards and long hair. They disappeared into the streets of Kunwari Colony following the shooting, he added.

The ASI was father of four and hailed from Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the police.

The body was later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

It is noteworthy that only within the remit of the Pirabad and Manghopir police stations, at least 11 policemen have been gunned down over the past few months.

Additional Inspector-General Iqbal Mehmood, the city police chief, said that most policemen were being targeted for their proactive approach in the policing, while some were investigating cases of heinous crime. He added that factors such as personal enmity or connivance in some criminal activity could not be ignored in such cases.

Lawyer, his cousin killed

A lawyer and his cousin were shot dead near their residence in North Nazimabad Block S on Thursday, police said.

The officials added that Advocate Abdul Rauf, 40, was standing along with his cousin, Mohammad Umair, 25, at the corner of the street where his house was situated when armed men riding a motorbike fired at them and fled.

Both men died while being rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the police said.

Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan SHO Raja Tariq said that the advocate used to do freelance work and Umair was an employee at the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation.

Information collected from the area indicated that the slain advocate was in dispute with several people over monetary issues, he added.

Rauf was father of three, the SHO said.

Tension gripped the locality, with closure of shops following the killings. Gunfire was also heard in the area when the bodies were brought there after medico-legal formalities at the hospital.

Young man shot dead

A young man was shot dead near the Jinnah bridge in the old city area, police said.

They added that Faizan Ahmed, 25, was shot at and wounded by armed men riding a motorbike on G. Allana Road within the remit of the Baghdadi police station.

The victim was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi in a rickshaw where he died during treatment, said Baghdadi SHO Haji Sanaullah.

He added that the victim was a resident of Saeedabad and used to work at the Jodia Bazaar in the Chawal Gali. The police officer quoted the victim’s family as saying that they belonged to the Kathiawar community and were not associated with any political or religious organisation.

Following the medico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to the family.

Suicide

A woman and a jobless man apparently killed themselves in separate incidents on Thursday, police said.

The police added that Sumaira, 29, a resident of Gulshan-i-Hadeed Phase I, consumed some poisonous substance after having an altercation with her husband, Waqar Ahmad.

She was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where she died during treatment, the police said.

They said that the woman had married Waqar Ahmed a year back but lately discovered that she was his second wife.

In Taiser Town, a jobless man was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his house, police said.

The police quoted a victim’s brother as saying that he found Mohammad Sohail hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in the morning.

The police investigators said that Sohail got married three years back but had a separation a few months back. The couple was childless, they added.