KARACHI, Dec 8: Two more young men were kidnapped and killed, while two passersby sustained bullet wounds in a gunfight between two gangs in strife-torn Lyari which began on Saturday night, said police on Sunday.
The first victim was identified as 33-year-old Ashfaq Ahmed and his body, bearing bullet wounds with hands tied behind the back, was found in Hazara Gulistan Colony.
Another bullet-riddled body was found in Rangiwara but its identity could not be ascertained immediately.
Both bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination.
According to Chakiwara SHO Sajjad Mangi, the first victim, Ashfaq, had been working at a confectionary shop at Aath Chowk and originally hailed from Faisalabad. He said he believed that the victim had been kidnapped and later killed, probably because he was suspected of being ‘an informer’.
Meanwhile, two passers-by, identified as 35-year-old Umer Daraz, and 14-year-old Faizan were wounded during an exchange of fire between two gangs on Tannery Road. They were also taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where a charged crowd allegedly misbehaved with senior medico-legal official Dr Nisar Ali Shah and threw out the official register and stamp, a hospital official told Dawn.
Chakiwara SHO Sajjad Mangi said that Tannery Road was one of the major flash points in Lyari where fighting among rival gangs frequently erupted. He remarked that peace returned to the area whenever law-enforcement agencies conducted targeted raids and killed gangsters in encounters but it was often short-lived since there were ‘hundreds’ of suspects belonging to the gangs. Fighting had begun late Saturday night when it had claimed the life of a passerby and continued intermittently till Sunday.
On Saturday night, a young passerby was killed while another was injured in the Kalakot area when alleged criminals attacked each other with ‘guns and grenades’ in the Jhatpat market. Zakir Mohammed and Zubair Moosa, said to be passersby, were wounded when the alleged criminals attacked each other with ‘grenades and guns’. They were taken to the Civil hospital, where Zakir died from his wounds caused by explosive material, according to a hospital official.
ANP man shot dead
A shopkeeper was shot dead and a passerby was wounded in Pirabad on Sunday evening, according to the police.
They said Haji Ali Irshad, 50, was sitting at his shop in Sher Khan Abad when armed motorcyclists shot at him before fleeing, causing bullet injuries to Irshad and a 12-year-old Samiullah who were then taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the doctors declared the elder as dead. The boy received bullet injuries on his arm.
SSP-West Irfan Baloch said that the victim was associated with the Awami National Party and the attack might have been targeted. However, investigators were also assessing the possibility of personal enmity behind the murder, he said.
Pirabad SHO Abdul Moid said that the victim had recently returned from his native home in Swat after eight months.
14 suspects detained
Rangers personnel while conducting targeted raids in the Chakiwara area of Lyari, Korangi Industrial Area, Korangi 2½, FC Area, Mianwali Colony, Frontier Colony, Lighthouse and Banaras Chowk arrested 14 ‘hardened’ criminals, affiliated with Lyari gang warfare and political groups, late Saturday night, Rangers spokesperson told Dawn on Sunday.
Snap checking was also carried out in Shah Nawaz Chowk, Lines Area, Water Pump Chowrangi and Golimar areas, he added.