KARACHI: A man, said to be an area leader of the PML-F, was killed and three others, said to be workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, sustained bullet wounds when two ‘political groups’ exchanged gunfire in Hussain Hazara Goth on Wednesday, police said.

They said that life came to a standstill in parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar for more than six hours when the two political groups clashed with each other following the funeral prayers for a deputy general manager of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, who was killed in a magnetic bomb blast a day earlier.

The said that the clash started when one group tried to shut down business activities while the other resisted.

The police said that four men were wounded when the two groups exchanged gunfire in Hussain Hazara Goth. A car was also set on fire near Safari Park. The wounded were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Nadim Magsi, one of the wounded, died at the JPMC during treatment.

An official at the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station said that the deceased was an area leader of the PML-F, while other three wounded were associated with the MQM.

SSP-East Imran Shaukat claimed that the police timely intervened and the situation was brought under control. “It was a clash between two political groups but we moved in time. No arrest has been made yet but we have launched a search operation and hope to arrest suspects soon.”

Meanwhile, the MQM in a statement claimed that criminal elements had attacked the funeral procession of Farhan Khalil, the KESC official who was also a worker of the MQM.