HYDERABAD: At least three people were killed in incidents of violence which erupted in different parts of Sindh after bullet-riddled bodies of two activists of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, a radical nationalist party, were found on a road in Dadu district on Sunday.

Kotri bore the brunt of the violence; a moving train came under fire and two vehicles were torched. Two people were killed and four were injured in incidents of firing. Another man was shot dead in an attack on his shop in Hyderabad.

Railway tracks were damaged by bomb blasts in Khairpur and Shaheed Benazirabad districts. Ghotki was closed after firing in a busy bazaar and Dadu after low-intensity blasts caused by crackers.

JSMM activists took out processions in Khairpur Nathan Shah, Mirpur Mathelo and other towns. They blocked the Indus Highway near K.N. Shah. Police intervened and arrested 10 protesters. Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar were closed in response to a call for strike.

The JSMM has accused an intelligence agency of having killed Amir Khuhawar and Sajjad Markhand and called for a province-wide strike on Monday.

The two had been picked up by the personal of the agency and Rangers from Larkana on April 24 when they were preparing for a public meeting to mark the 18th death anniversary of GM Syed, the founder of Jeay Sindh movement which espouses the cause of independent Sindh, according to a press release issued by the party.

The bodies of the two activists, bearing marks of severe torture, were found on Chokhandi link road near Khairpur Nathan Shah. Police took the bodies to a local hospital for autopsy.

A police official said they had been informed about the bodies by motorists and local people. The hands of the victims had been tied with their back by rope, he said.

Dr Jabbar Landhar said that the bodies bore marks of bullets and torture.

Activists of the JSMM, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and the Jeay Sindh Mahaz gathered at the hospital and JSMM leaders Ilyas Bhurgari and Junaid Inqalabi received the bodies.

JSMM activists took the bodies to Mehar where they held a demonstration. The party’s coordinator Munir Cholyani appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to order a judicial inquiry into the killings.

Gunmen attacked Awami Express, which was going to Karachi, on Kotri bridge. Four people — including FIA employee Nawaz Gujjar and policeman Gulrez alias Ali Nawaz — suffered bullet wounds. Gulrez was taken to the Civil Hospital Hyderabad. Gujjar was admitted to the Kotri taluka hospital.

Amjad, of Hyderabad who worked for a bakery, was also hit by a bullet. He was taken to the Hyderabad hospital but did not survive.

Another man, Abdul Ghani Qureshi was injured by gunfire at Shah Latif Chowk. He was taken to the Hyderabad hospital where he died.

A pick-up was set on fire near the Kotri taluka hospital and a bus of a pharmaceutical company on the railway bridge. Gunmen went on a firing spree, causing panic in the town which was soon closed.

In Hyderabad, a man was killed and another injured when four gunmen on two motorcycles fired at an ice-cream shop in Qasimabad area.

The deceased was identified as Rehmanullah Khan, 40, the owner of the shop, and the injured as Imtiaz Ali.

A firecracker was lobbed at a restaurant off Auto Bhan road. A child is reported to have suffered injuries.

In Khairpur district, a portion of railway track was blown up when an explosive device went off near Gambat railway crossing.

Train service was disrupted and different trains were stopped at various stations.

In Shaheed Benazirabad district, railway traffic remained suspended for three and a half hours after an explosion on tracks near Nawaz Dahiri railway station, 18 km from Nawabshah.

The blast damaged the tracks and created a 2.5 feet deep crater.

Abdul Salam Kanjo of the railway police said the blast had been caused by a bomb weighing approximately 3kg.

In Dadu, a man was injured when men on motorcycles hurled two crackers in New Chowk and Katchery Road Shops and bazaars were closed in Ghotki after shots were fired outside a motorcycle showroom.

JSMM spokesman Waheed Khoso said in a press release that Amir Khuhawar and Sajjad Markhand would be buried on Monday in Sann, the village of G.M. Syed, beside the graves of Muzaffar Bhuttto and Rooplo Cholyani.

A few years ago, Muzaffar Bhutto was killed in the same manner and Rooplo Cholyani in a mysterious attack on his vehicle which also claimed the life of Serai Qurban Khuhawar, a senior leader of the JSMM, and his two other comrades.

Illahi Bakhsh Markhand, another activist of the party, had been kidnapped about a year and a half ago and his whereabouts were not known since then, the spokesman said.

He alleged that the government launched an operation against the party after it had held a gathering in Sann last Thursday.

He accused Punjab of depriving Sindh of its rights and said the JSMM movement had been launched in 2001 during which a large number of its workers had been killed.