KARACHI: A man and his two sons and two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were among 10 people gunned down in different parts of the city on Tuesday as both the security and political administrations appeared powerless to check the renewed wave of targeted killings.
The man and his two sons were gunned down while one of their relatives was wounded in a targeted attack in the old city area on Tuesday night.
Police said the incident took place at Paan Mandi within the remit of the Risala police station.
They said the killings took place when gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a Santro car carrying the four men.
The victims were heading home after closing their shop in Jodia Bazaar when they were targeted at Paan Mandi near the City Courts.
“The three victims were ‘Ahl-i-Tashee’,” said SSP-South Asif Aijaz Shaikh.
“Two suspects riding a motorcycle, one wearing a helmet, fired at the car and escaped,” the SSP said.
“We have found five spent bullet casings of the 9mm pistol from the crime scene.”
The SSP said apparently it was an act of sectarian killing.
The victims were rushed to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), where Mohammad Raza, 65, and his sons Kumail Raza, 35, and Abbas Raza, 45, were pronounced dead on arrival, while their relative Ali Raza was admitted for treatment.
Following the medico-legal formalities the bodies were shifted to the Imambargah Mehfil Shah-i-Khurasan.
Earlier on Monday morning, three brothers were attacked in Jafar-i-Tayyar Society, where one was killed and two were wounded. Late on Monday evening four brothers were gunned down in North Karachi. And on Tuesday night, a man and his two sons were gunned down in the old city area. On Sept 5, the chairman of Islamic Research Centre, Mukhtar Azmi, his son Baqar Azmi and grandson Mohammad Ali were targeted by assassins on University Road. Mukhtar and his son Baqar were killed in the attack.
Two Muttahida men
The two MQM activists were gunned down in Surjani Town.
Police said the incident took place in Sector 10/5 of the town within the remit of the Surjani Town police station, where three suspects riding two motorcycles targeted two men also riding a motorcycle.
The police said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died before they could be taken to hospital.
The bodies were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the victims were identified as Riaz, 45, son of Abdul Ghaffar, and Yaqoob, 25, son of Abdul Hafeez.
Police said Riaz was a committee member of Unit 7 of the MQM and Yaqoob was a worker of the party.
The police said Riaz ran a Gutka business in Surjani Town and lived in Sector 7A of the locality.
Following the killings tension gripped parts of Surjani and shops and all other commercial activities were closed.
Additional police and Rangers were deployed in the area.
Other killings
A teenage boy was killed and a friend of his was wounded when gunmen opened fire on them in Surjani Town on Tuesday.
Police said the incident took place in Yousuf Goth near Allahwalli Stop close to a milk shop, where gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Nasir, 18, son of Akhtar Ali, and Mohammad Salman.
The suspects rode away following the shooting.
Both men were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Nasir died during treatment while Salman was admitted.
Police said both men were daily wage earners.
The police said they were not sure about the motive for the killing.
A young man was killed in Korangi.
The victim was found dead in Sector 33-E, and the police shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for
medico-legal formalities.
The victim, Amir Ali, 32, was identified by his brother-in-law.
The police said the victim, a pickup driver, was a resident of Korangi 2½. Early on Tuesday morning he had gone out, but later he was found dead.
Police suspected personal enmity as a motive for the murder.
The body of an unidentified man was found in the Lyari rive on Tuesday morning.
Police said the body was found near Niazi Mohallah in the river within the remit of the Pak Colony police station.
The victim was in his mid-20s. The body was trussed up and bore torture marks. The victim was shot in the head, the police added. The body was shifted to the CHK for medico-legal formalities. The police said the victim had been kidnapped somewhere else and his body was dumped at the scene. An unidentified young man was killed within the remit of the Garden police station on Tuesday.
Police said the incident took place in Ranchhore Line near Mehmood Bakery, where a young man was drinking water from a Sabeel when two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on him and fled.
The victim died on the spot and his body was taken to the CHK for medico-legal formalities and later to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.
A hairdressing salon owner was gunned down and two others were wounded near Baakhra Hotel within the remit of the Kharadar police station on Tuesday evening.
Police said the incident took place when suspects on a motorcycle opened fire on Shafeeq Babu, 40. Two others, Mohammad Aslam and Sajid, were also wounded in the firing.
The victims were taken to the CHK, where Shafeeq was pronounced dead and the two others were admitted for treatment.
Police described the incident as part of the on-going killings that had been taking place in the old city area for some time.
Girl raped, strangled
An unidentified teenage girl was found raped and killed in a city locality on Tuesday.
Her body was found at a deserted place in the Shah Latif Town area.
Police said the body of the 19-year-old girl was found at a deserted place in Gulshan Colony within the remit of the Khuldabad police post.
It was taken to the JPMC for a post-mortem examination. Quoting hospital sources, the police said the victim had been subjected to rape.
Police said the girl was strangled with a piece of rope which was still tied around her neck. However, nothing could be found in the vicitm’s possession that could help identify her, the police said.
Following medico-legal formalities, the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.