Four men gunned down

Tension in Qasba Colony after murder of Pakhtun student activist.

KARACHI:

Four men were killed on Wednesday, including the former unit incharge of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and an MQM sympathiser.

At least four armed men on two motorcycles opened fire on MQM’s former unit incharge, Mushtaq Ahmed, outside his house in Mughal Compound, Bheempura within the jurisdiction of Eidgah police station. The 33-year-old was shot eight times. He was taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, where he succumbed to his injuries.

“He used to be incharge of unit 29 but these days he was just a party activist,” said SHO Nawaz Gondal. “He also used to work in the Karachi Electric Supply Company.” Ahmed is survived by four children and a wife.

After the incident, police were deployed in sensitive areas including Ranchore Lines, Joona Market, Risala and Bheempura. No case was registered till the filing of this report. Meanwhile, an MQM supporter was killed and his brother was wounded in Sector 5-A/L of Qasba Colony. Police said that two armed men on a motorcycle attacked them from up close. Twenty-seven-year-old Mohammad Ali, son of Zahid, and his younger brother, Sajid, 23, were moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Ali died. Doctors said Sajid was in critical condition.

According to the police, tension spread across Qasba Colony after the Pakhtun Students Federation worker Imran Afridi was gunned down on Tuesday. Affected areas included Faqeer Colony, Muslimabad, Katti Pahari, Bukhari Colony and Aligarh Colony.

Two shopkeepers killed in Qasba Colony

Two more men were gunned down in Qasba Colony, within the jurisdiction of the Orangi Town police station on Wednesday. Police said that two men on a motorcycle opened fire near Qazzafi Chowk and fled. The attack left a naswar shop owner, Ziaur Rehman, 25, and 42-year-old Mohammad Yaqoob, owner of a haleem shop, dead. Their bodies were sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Police said that Rehman was Pashto-speaking while Yaqoob was Punjabi speaking. They were both at their shops when the suspects targeted them.

This brings the toll to 15 from March 2 (8 MQM, 4 Sipah-e-Sahaba, 1 Dawat-e-Islami, 1 MQM-H and 1 PSF).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2011.