Target killings: 9 men killed in drive-by shootings
At least nine people, including four men affiliated with MQM gunned down across the city.
KARACHI:
At least nine people, including four men affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were gunned down across the city on Monday.
A Shia doctor and water board staffer was killed on Rashid Minhas Road. Hassan Asif, 41, stopped to buy cigarettes at a paan shop, where two men on a motorcycle were already waiting for him.
According to a witness, the suspects “looked young with short beards and were wearing trousers and shirts”. As Asif arrived, one of them quickly sat on his motorcycle while the other broke the window of Asif’s car before shooting him thrice in the head. Witnesses said they saw the assailants flee towards Jauhar Morr.
The police took him to a private hospital. “He was taking his last breaths when we saw him and he died within seconds,” said a nearby watchman. Asif, a resident of the same area, ran a clinic in Jaffer Tayyar Society, Malir. His cousin, Raza, told The Express Tribune that he was going to office. “He was punished for being Shia,” he added tearfully.
“Every day, people are being killed on sectarian or political bases but there is no one to stop these incidents by arresting or punishing the culprits,” said another relative, Kamal.
Asif was only the breadwinner of the family and was the eldest among six siblings.
He is survived by his wife and one-year-old daughter. He used to be an MQM activist but “he was not an active worker for the past eight to 10 years”, said another relative, Raza. “After the father’s death, his only focus was to look after the family.”
Asif’s funeral prayers were offered at Ancholi Imambargah and he was laid to rest in the Wadi-e-Hussain Graveyard on the Super Highway.
According to SHO Sohail Sulehri, the assailants used a 30-bore pistol. The witnesses are helping the police make sketches.
The family has yet to file a case. Officials added that the same people, who have previously targeted Shia members of the MQM, may be behind this murder.
Elsewhere, an MQM activist was shot dead near Sindhi Hotel in Liaquatabad. Kashif Qasim, 28, affiliated with Unit No. 162 was sitting with his friends near his house when men shot him and escaped.
An MQM supporter was gunned down in Ranchore Lines. Eidgah police said that the 20-year-old Babar Raees was also a resident of the same area. He was sitting in a rickshaw with his neighbours when men on two motorcycles shot him.
Raees was a mechanic and used to run a motorcycle repair shop near his house. He supported the MQM and was often seen at party gatherings, said the police. His father lodged a case.
Meanwhile, the younger brother of an MQM activist was gunned down in Sector 4, New Karachi. Khawaja Ajmer Nagri DSP Altaf Hussain said Shoaib Nazeer, 24, was an MQM sympathiser and his elder brother is an activist.
In Orangi Town’s Katti Pahari area, a 54-year-old woman Ameer Jahan, wife of Sadiq, was killed while her 23-year-old son, Rizwan, was injured in firing.
The police said the two were on their way home on a motorcycle when they were shot. It was a confirmed case of target killing due to an old enmity, said an official.
In a separate incident, Saleem Zubair was killed and Zubair was injured in firing near Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Shamim Shaheed police post officials said that the victims were residents of Pak Colony and they have yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.
Meanwhile, the bullet-riddled body of a man, identified as Younus Memon, 25, was found in Lyari. Baghdadi police said Memon was kidnapped and tortured before he was killed.
The victim used to sell old electronic goods but he may have been killed over the suspicion of being an informer, said the police.
An unidentified man was also gunned down near Clifton Bridge. Frere police officials said the culprits on a motorcycle shot the victim as he was crossing the road. His body was moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and later moved to Edhi morgue. SHO Shehzada Saleem Memon said that the victim appears to have been a target killing victim.
The body of another unidentified man was found inside a garbage dump in Baloch Goth. Orangi Town police officials said the deceased was kidnapped and then shot twice.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2011.
At least nine people, including four men affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were gunned down across the city on Monday.
A Shia doctor and water board staffer was killed on Rashid Minhas Road. Hassan Asif, 41, stopped to buy cigarettes at a paan shop, where two men on a motorcycle were already waiting for him.
According to a witness, the suspects “looked young with short beards and were wearing trousers and shirts”. As Asif arrived, one of them quickly sat on his motorcycle while the other broke the window of Asif’s car before shooting him thrice in the head. Witnesses said they saw the assailants flee towards Jauhar Morr.
The police took him to a private hospital. “He was taking his last breaths when we saw him and he died within seconds,” said a nearby watchman. Asif, a resident of the same area, ran a clinic in Jaffer Tayyar Society, Malir. His cousin, Raza, told The Express Tribune that he was going to office. “He was punished for being Shia,” he added tearfully.
“Every day, people are being killed on sectarian or political bases but there is no one to stop these incidents by arresting or punishing the culprits,” said another relative, Kamal.
Asif was only the breadwinner of the family and was the eldest among six siblings.
He is survived by his wife and one-year-old daughter. He used to be an MQM activist but “he was not an active worker for the past eight to 10 years”, said another relative, Raza. “After the father’s death, his only focus was to look after the family.”
Asif’s funeral prayers were offered at Ancholi Imambargah and he was laid to rest in the Wadi-e-Hussain Graveyard on the Super Highway.
According to SHO Sohail Sulehri, the assailants used a 30-bore pistol. The witnesses are helping the police make sketches.
The family has yet to file a case. Officials added that the same people, who have previously targeted Shia members of the MQM, may be behind this murder.
Elsewhere, an MQM activist was shot dead near Sindhi Hotel in Liaquatabad. Kashif Qasim, 28, affiliated with Unit No. 162 was sitting with his friends near his house when men shot him and escaped.
An MQM supporter was gunned down in Ranchore Lines. Eidgah police said that the 20-year-old Babar Raees was also a resident of the same area. He was sitting in a rickshaw with his neighbours when men on two motorcycles shot him.
Raees was a mechanic and used to run a motorcycle repair shop near his house. He supported the MQM and was often seen at party gatherings, said the police. His father lodged a case.
Meanwhile, the younger brother of an MQM activist was gunned down in Sector 4, New Karachi. Khawaja Ajmer Nagri DSP Altaf Hussain said Shoaib Nazeer, 24, was an MQM sympathiser and his elder brother is an activist.
In Orangi Town’s Katti Pahari area, a 54-year-old woman Ameer Jahan, wife of Sadiq, was killed while her 23-year-old son, Rizwan, was injured in firing.
The police said the two were on their way home on a motorcycle when they were shot. It was a confirmed case of target killing due to an old enmity, said an official.
In a separate incident, Saleem Zubair was killed and Zubair was injured in firing near Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Shamim Shaheed police post officials said that the victims were residents of Pak Colony and they have yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.
Meanwhile, the bullet-riddled body of a man, identified as Younus Memon, 25, was found in Lyari. Baghdadi police said Memon was kidnapped and tortured before he was killed.
The victim used to sell old electronic goods but he may have been killed over the suspicion of being an informer, said the police.
An unidentified man was also gunned down near Clifton Bridge. Frere police officials said the culprits on a motorcycle shot the victim as he was crossing the road. His body was moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and later moved to Edhi morgue. SHO Shehzada Saleem Memon said that the victim appears to have been a target killing victim.
The body of another unidentified man was found inside a garbage dump in Baloch Goth. Orangi Town police officials said the deceased was kidnapped and then shot twice.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2011.