Two ‘sectarian’ killings: Three activists among six shot dead
KARACHI: More than half a dozen people, including two Pakistan People’s Party activists and a Muttahida Qaumi Movement worker, were gunned down across the city that witnessed two more sectarian killings on Wednesday.
Only a day ago, three PPP activists, a prominent Shia leader and his colleague had been shot dead in targeted attacks followed by the killing of three participants in the funeral procession of Allama Aftab Haider Jafri.
Over the past two days, at least eight vehicles were set on fire in violence in different parts of the city following the shootings.
Four of the slain political activists were residents of Orangi Town, police said.
Raza Ali, 22, and Jehangir Jan, 23, were returning from a restaurant in Sector 11 ½ of Orangi when they were targeted by armed men riding a motorbike, said Pakistan Bazaar SHO Ghulam Nabi Afridi.
He added that the police shifted their bodies to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
The police investigators, he said, found spent bullet casings of 9mm pistol at the crime scene.
He said Raza resided in Aziz Nagar, Orangi Town and Jehangir in Baldia Town.
District west PPP office-bearer Suleman Sindhi said that both men were PPP workers of the district. He condemned the killings and said they were part of the ongoing targeted killings in the city.
MQM activist killed
In Manghopir, an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was found shot dead in a storm drain in the Altaf Nagar area, police said.
The officials added the victim, identified as Sohail Kareem, 30, who had been missing since Tuesday night, was found shot dead within the remit of the Manghopir police station.
The victim was a resident of Rehmat Chowk, Orangi Town, and brother of former UC-9 Nazim Shahid Kareem, the police said.
He had been shot in the head and chest, the officials said, adding that the family took away the body without completing the medico-legal formalities.
Father of a child, the victim was employed at a private company, the police said.
Following the three targeted killings of political activists, tension spread in different parts of Orangi Town and traders pulled down shutters.
‘Sectarian’ attacks
A man was shot dead and his two brothers were wounded in North Nazimabad apparently on sectarian grounds just hours after a 40-year-old man was targeted near Haroonabad within the remit of the Site-B police station.
The three brothers, Sajjad Rizvi, Javad Rizvi and Raza Rizvi, were returning home from Saddar Electronics Market in their car when they were fired upon near the KDA Chowrangi, said North Nazimabad SP Khurram Waris.
All the three were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Sajjad Rizvi died during treatment, while Javad and Raza were admitted for treatment.
“The three brothers are Shia and apparently the attack has been carried out on sectarian grounds,” the officer said.
The police investigators said the three men dealt in electronic goods.
Apparently, the suspects were following the victims from the Saddar Electronics Market and chose to target them in North Nazimabad, said another officer.
Earlier, a 40-year-old man was killed in what police suspected to be a sectarian attack near Haroonabad within the remit of the Site-B police station.
Shaban Ali, 40, was passing through the area in his car when armed men riding a motorcycle stopped his car and fired at him before fleeing. “The victim suffered a gunshot wound in the head, causing his instant death,” said SITE-B SHO Abdul Moid.
“Circumstances indicate that the killing was linked to the ongoing sectarian attacks in the city,” he said, adding that the attackers didn’t take away anything from the victim’s car.
The victim was shot in the head at pointblank range, the officer remarked.
The police shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
The police investigators said that the victim was a resident of Tariq Road and was a scrap dealer. He was on his way to a warehouse in SITE when he was intercepted, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the funeral prayers for the three victims, who had sustained bullet wounds when Rangers personnel opened fire in the direction of the funeral procession of Allama Aftab Haider Jafri, were offered at different Imambargahs in the city.
According to police, the security personnel had earlier come under fire from unidentified attackers riding motorcycles ahead of the procession near Dak Khana.
Firing at tea stall claims life
A member of the Bengali Action committee was gunned down and two others were wounded in firing at a tea stall in Sector 51-A of Surjani Town on Wednesday, police said.
They added that the attackers riding a motorbike opened fire on the people having tea at the tea stall and fled. As a result of the firing, Abul Hasan, 30, died on the spot, while his associates Pir Jan and Qasim Saleem were wounded.
The wounded were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment, said Surjani SHO Arshad Gabol.
The victims were area resident, he said, adding that they were members of the Bengali Action Committee.
Two killed in Malir
Two men were killed in Memon Goth on Wednesday night, police said, suspecting that the incident was the result of a rivalry between two criminal gangs.
They added that armed men intercepted Talib and Fareed, who were riding motorbikes, fired at them and fled.
The police shifted the bodies to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.
DIG (east) Shahid Hayat said that the killings appeared to be the result of an ongoing fight between two criminal groups. The two men belonged to the Sohail Dada group while the attackers were suspected to be associated with the Bhutto group, the senior officer said. The two victims were wearing ammunition belts though no weapon was found with them, he said, adding that it seems the attackers took away the weapons as carrying only bullets didn’t make any sense.
Bodies identified
The bodies of three young men found beneath the Karimabad flyover in the early hours of Tuesday were identified as PPP activists Fazal Rabi, Gulfaraz Jadoon and Farhan Khan.
“They were workers of the PPP district west PS 90,” said Mr Sindhi, the PPP district west officer-bearer.
The police said that the three men, residents of Orangi Town, had been kidnapped and tortured before being killed. Following the medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the bodies had been shifted to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.
Arms cache seized, three held
Nineteen submachine guns, 21 rifles of different types, four pistols, a hand grenade, a rocket launcher and several rounds of ammunition were seized from a bus on the Superhighway and three suspects, including the bus driver, were arrested, police said. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted the bus coming from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on the highway and found the arms cache in the bus during checking, said DIG (east) Shahid Hayat while speaking at a press conference at his office.
He said the arms were being brought into Karachi from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.