MQM, PPP men among 12 shot dead in city
KARACHI: Twelve men, including two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were gunned down on sectarian and political grounds on Wednesday, as the government and law-enforcers failed to take measures to stem the rising wave of targeted killings in the city.
In yet another incident of targeted killing on sectarian grounds, an engineer working at a cellular firm was shot dead near his residence in Federal B Area’s Block 17.
The police said that Mirza Zaheer Abbas, 35, was returning home after dropping off his children at a nearby school in the morning when assailants wearing helmets and riding a motorbike targeted him near Rehmat Bakery within the remit of the Samnabad police station. The killers escaped.
The victim suffered a bullet wound in the head and died on the spot. The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. He was father of three.
“The victim had left home for work but returned to take his lunch box and that was when he was targeted,” said Liaquatabad division SP Salman Hasan. “First he dropped his children to a nearby school and left for work, but returned home to take his lunch. All of his belongings were there. They didn’t take along even his cellphone.”
He said that a 9mm pistol was used in the killing. “So far circumstancial evidence suggests that it is another sectarian killing.” Following the murder, tension gripped the Incholi, Gulberg and Samanabad areas where shops and other businesses were closed in protest against the killing.
Amid strict security arrangements, the body was taken from the hospital to Inchoali and the funeral prayers were held at the Imambargah Khairul Amal. A large number of people attended the funeral of the victim. The victim was laid to rest in the Wadi-i-Hussain graveyard.
The police quoted family sources as saying that the victim had no enmity.
MQM men, passer-by shot dead
A worker of the MQM and a passer-by were gunned down and two others wounded in an armed attack within the remit of the Rizvia police station on Wednesday. Police said that Zafar aka Aligadhwala was sitting near an eatery, Zamindar Hotel, where four men riding two motorcycles emerged, pulled out their weapons and fired shots targeting him.
“The assailants hit a motorcyclist while fleeing and they shot him too to ensure their safe escape,” said area DSP Rustum Khattak. The firing also left two men, identified as Altaf and Iqbal, wounded. All the four persons were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Zafar and the motorcyclist, Zahid Hussain Zaidi, were pronounced dead on arrival.
“The MQM activist was the real target of the assailants, but they didn’t take any chances and killed the other man as well,” DSP Khattak observed. The police said that Zafar was a worker of Unit 189 of the Gulbahar sector of the MQM’s organisational structure.
The second victim was living near Jafria Imambargah and was not associated with any political or religious party, he added. Following the killings, tension gripped the locality and shops and markets were shut.
Meanwhile, another worker of the MQM was shot dead in Korangi Industrial Area on Wednesday. Police said that the incident took place in Haji Ibrahim Goth where two armed men riding a motorbike targeted Mahir Ali, 32.
The victim was a resident of the same area and a member of the MQM’s Muttahida Organising Committee, the police said, adding that at the time of the incident he was going to bring his children from school. He was a labourer.The victim suffered gunshot wound in the head and died before he could be taken to hospital. The body was moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.
Following the incident tension gripped the locality and shops were close down.
PPP man, friend shot dead in Surjani
Two persons, including an activist of the Pakistan People’s Party, were gunned down in Surjani Town on Wednesday night. Police said that gunmen riding a motorcycle targeted two men, 32-year-old Umar Shaikh and Lal Fazal, who were sitting outside their house in Khuda Ki Basti within the remit of the Surjani Town police station.
The victims were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they died. A local PPP leader, Sohail Abidi, said that victim Shaikh was an active worker of the party. He was married about four months back, he said. He condemned the continuing killing of the PPP workers in the city and called for an immediate arrest of the culprits.
‘MQM supporter’ killed in Lyari
A young man was killed in Lyari on Wednesday night, police said. SP-City Sarfraz Nawaz said that the victim, identified as Bilal, was seriously wounded and died at hospital during treatment. “He came to the Lee Market area to meet someone. He was standing there when gunmen riding a motorcycle targeted him and rode away,” he added.
The police said that the victim was a resident of the Defence area. They said that victim’s friends who had come to the hospital told the police that he was not a member of any political party, but a supporter of the MQM.
Youth killed, two wounded in attack
A young man was killed and two others wounded in an armed attack inside a Wednesday Bazaar in New Karachi on Wednesday night. Police said that the incident took place within the remit of the New Karachi police station where gunmen walked into a weekly bazaar and opened fire at Nisar alias Pamperwala and fled.
The victims were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Nisar was pronounced dead on arrival. The police said that it was not immediately clear if the victim had any political affiliation or not.
‘Peddler’ shot dead in Orangi
A young man was killed in Orangi Town on Wednesday. The Mominabad police said that armed men opened fire on Naeem Baloch, 30, in Faqeer Colony and escaped. The victim was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He suffered two bullet wounds in the head and neck causing his instant death.
DSP Abdul Waheed said that he was a drug peddler and had been released from jail three days back. He was probably killed by his opponents, he added.
Man shot dead in Shanti Nagar
A man was killed in Shanti Nagar on Wednesday evening.
Police said that assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on Jameel Shetho, 35, who was sitting outside his house. The victim died before he could be shifted to a hospital. Later, the police shifted the body to the JPMC for medico-legal formalities. They said that they were looking into the background of the victim to ascertain the motive of the killing.
Body found in gunny bag
The body of a man stuffed in a gunny bag was found in Lyari on Wednesday. Police said that body was found on Mirza Adam Khan Road within the remit of the Chakiwara police station.
The victim had been shot in the head.
The police shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi where he was identified with the help of an identity card as Khurram Shahzad, 32. They said that according to the ID card the victim was a resident of Mauripur and originally hailed from Punjab.
Elderly man shot dead in Malir
An elderly man was gunned down in a Malir locality on Wednesday night. Police said that assailants riding a motorbike fired at Nazeer Ahmed Nawab, 60, who was sitting close to his house in Hansabad within the remit of the Al-Falah police station.
The victim died before he could be shifted to hospital.
The police said that the killing appeared to be a result of some personal enmity.
The body was shifted to the JPMC for medico-legal formalities.
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