Eight cars and an NLC water tanker were set on fire by the enraged protesters, who also smashed the windscreens and windows of cars parked outside apartments. - APP photo

KARACHI Residents of Gulistan-i-Jauhar in the vicinity of Pehlwan Goth spent a sleepless night amid violence and sporadic firing, which continued throughout Saturday night, following the kidnapping and murder of an Awami National Party activist.

Eight cars and an NLC water tanker were set on fire by the enraged protesters, who also smashed the windscreens and windows of cars parked outside apartments.

The road leading from Jauhar Chowrangi to Pehlwan Goth was the worst hit by the violence, and most of the cars were set on fire in this area.

Hundreds of people residing in the apartment buildings on both sides of the road and in houses were practically trapped inside their homes due to the violence.

Instead of acting against the miscreants who were setting fire to vehicles, the police did nothing, and remained positioned at Jauhar Chowrangi and Pehlwan Goth on the end of the road, residents complained.

Police said that the trouble started when ANP activist Shahrukh was kidnapped by unknown persons from Block 19 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, where he was sitting with some friends.

Following his kidnapping, other ANP activists took to the streets, pelting stones on passing vehicles and subsequently setting fire to them by intercepting them near Rabia City apartments.

Senior police officers said the local leadership of the ANP was convinced that Shahrukh had been killed following the kidnapping, though the police argued that he could not be presumed dead unless his body was found.

Subsequently, police also began a search for the body.

Shahrukh`s body was eventually found on Sunday morning beneath the Gulistan-i-Jauhar bridge at Abul Asar Hafeez Jallundhri Road.

Unknown suspects had pumped three bullets into the victim, police said.

The body was shifted to the Pehlwan Goth area, from where it was transported to the airport in the afternoon. The victim was a native of Nowshera in the NWFP.

Following the discovery of the body beneath the bridge, no violence was reported from Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

However, police had blocked the road leading from Jauhar Chowrangi to Pehlwan Goth for vehicular traffic.

By Sunday evening, police registered an FIR (287/2009) under Sections 302, 365/34
at the Sharea Faisal police station.

The FIR was lodged by Mohammad Asif, an ANP activist nominating Umair alias Jailer, Nomi and three to four unknown persons.

The Sharea Faisal police station SHO Khalid Javed said that there was mention of the party affiliations of the accused nominated in the FIR.

`Residents hostage to confrontation`

Lately, the stretch of road starting from Jauhar Chowrangi to Pehlwan Goth, especially Rabia City, which houses hundreds of apartments, has become a flashpoint of violence between two political groups.

According to the area residents and police, there is an ongoing tussle within the apartment complex, as a number of apartments have been forcibly occupied by a particular group, who, according to the residents, are trying to establish their presence in the housing project.

The adjacent area of Pehlwan Goth is dominated by the ANP, and ever since one side of the road was dug up during reconstruction about a year ago, it has now been totally blocked by parked minibuses and auto-rickshaws.

The area has a presence of almost all political parties including PPP, ANP, PPP-SB and Jeay Sindh. Area residents said that lately the ANP has seen a rift in their ranks, as a group dominated by one Bangash has reportedly parted ways with the main party, citing inaction by the ANP over the killing of one of their members.

Residents are of the view that the authorities should come down hard on the miscreants who are active in the area and take area residents hostage by resorting to violence. They said that the government should wake up to the forceful occupation of the apartments by some political elements.