KARACHI, April 18: A worker of the Pakistan People’s Party and another of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were killed in separate incidents of firing, followed by an arson attack on a passenger bus in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Monday, police said. The 50-year-old worker of the PPP was targeted inside his roadside restaurant in Sector 15 of Orangi Town, officials said.
They added that Mohammad Asghar was at the cash counter of Tehzeeb Hotel when armed men riding a motorbike arrived there. One of the riders got off the motorcycle and opened fire on him before fleeing with his accomplice, the police said.
“The firing left Asghar dead and his friend, Ahmed Ali, wounded,” said Orangi Town SP Khurram Waris.
He said the body and the wounded victim were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the wounded victim was said to be stable.
He added, “The police have found spent bullet casings of a 9mm pistol at the crime-scene.”
Fear gripped the locality after the incident. Traders pulled down shutters and public transport gradually disappeared from roads.
SP Waris said the victim was associated with the real estate business and it would be a little early to declare that the killing was politically motivated.
However, PPP leaders saw Asghar’s murder as ‘part of the ongoing attacks on party workers’, recalling that the party had lost more than half a dozen activists in the past few weeks.
“It’s crystal clear that Asghar was targeted only for his association with the PPP,” said a senior leader of PPP’s Karachi chapter.
“He was not under threat for any personal reasons. We condemn such acts of brutality and would like to call all peace-loving political forces to come forward against the scourge.” Later, a young activist of the MQM sustained fatal bullet wounds while driving home in Gulistan-i-Jauhar in the evening.
While investigations were under way, police suspected that the victim, identified as 30-year-old Mirza Imran Baig, was targeted somewhere else but he managed to drive home. “As he reached near his apartment, he was found in a pool of blood inside the car,” said Sachal SHO Sub-Inspector Agha Shamshad.
“The exact situation is not yet clear but initial findings indicated that he was hit inside his car near Rizwan Housing Society.
“The wounded man was shifted to a nearby private hospital where he died. The victim was said to be associated with the MQM,” the SHO added.
Following the killing, fear and tension spread in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal locality that caused closure of businesses and put traffic off the roads.
While police claimed that the situation had been controlled by law-enforcement agencies, a bus was set on fire shortly after the killing.
“A bus of G-3 route has been reportedly set ablaze near Kiran Hospital. Two fire tenders have been sent to the site to put out the flames,” said an official at the central fire station.
‘Assassin’ held Meanwhile, the New Karachi police claimed to have arrested a suspect said to be involved in the killing of more than half a dozen MQM workers last week alone.
A senior official said the suspect, Waqas alias Arman, was arrested by the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police while he was making a street crime attempt.
“A pistol found in his possession was seized,” said Saqib Ismail, the SSP investigation for the west zone of capital city police.
“During interrogation, he confessed to having killed three MQM workers in the Mehmoodabad area and an equal number of activists in Orangi Town last week.”
However, the SSP did not disclose the political association of the suspect, saying that investigators planned to move forward after collecting some important pieces of evidence.
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