Police officials show four arrested accused who were allegedly involved in gang war and seized weapons and bullets which were recovered from their possession to mediamen during press conference at Mominabad police station after their arrest in search operation at Orangi Town in Karachi on Wednesday. – Photo by PPI

KARACHI: An armed clash between rival groups within a criminal gang in Orangi Town’s Faqeer Colony on Wednesday left two teenage boys dead, police said.

The gun battle between the two groups was so fierce that it virtually paralysed life in the densely populated neighbourhood for more than eight hours.

The deadly episode finally ended when the area police backed by the Rangers managed to enter the narrow lanes of Umar Baloch Muhallah and picked up more than a dozen suspects and seized their arms.

The police claimed that the two armed groups were actually associated with the long-running Lyari gang warfare.

The police said that the armed accomplices associated with two wanted criminals — Ashiq Rasheed alias Bholu and Saeed Kajal alias Captain — exchanged gunfire with each other over some internal dispute.

“In fact the two suspects (Ashiq and Saeed) have roots in Lyari and over the years they have expanded their network to Faqeer Colony and established mainly drugs business in the area,” said an official at the Pirabad police station.

The police said that the firing between the rivals claimed the lives of two teenage boys — 16-year-old Abdul Latif and 17-year-old Dost Muhammad.

While the background and other details of the two victims are still unclear, investigators said they had reason to believe that the victims were passers-by and came under heavy firing.

The firing also left a woman, Zarina, and a police constable, Zahid, who was posted at the Mominabad police station, wounded. They were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment where their condition was stated to be out of danger.

The firing lasted for several hours keeping the area police away from the strife-hit pockets of the neighbourhood. The police later moved in amid heavy exchange of gunfire that kept the residents indoors and business closed in the area.

Residents alleged that despite repeated complaints and request of police help, no major action was taken against the criminals, who had organised themselves here only a couple of years ago.

Orangi Town SP Khurram Waris said that the police and the Rangers picked up 14 suspects during a two-hour search operation in the area.

Speaking at a press conference, the SP said that the police seized four TT pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle and 14 kilograms of charas from different hideouts.

“The armed men involved in the clash were in fact part of a single group that deals mainly in drugs in the area,” he said. “They, however, developed some differences on Wednesday over hitherto unspecified issues that led to an armed clash between them.”

He said that Saeed Kajal alias Captain had close association with Ghaffar Zikri, said to be a notorious Lyari gangster.