More killings across Karachi

Three more men have been killed in the ongoing spate of target killings.


Express March 21, 2011

KARACHI: Three more men have been killed in the ongoing spate of target killings in Karachi on Wednesday.

Fifty-year-old, Sahibzada was killed when unidentified gunmen fired on him in Landhi near Chowrangi. Another man, Gul Rehman, was shot dead in the Qasba Colony area along with another man in Katti Pahari.

Intermittent firing has taken place in various parts of the city since morning injuring one man, Umer in the Nusrat Colony Area.

Police and Rangers have not been able to clamp down on violence in the city as the death toll continues to steadily climb.

Some target killers arrested but victims still outnumber them

As the death toll continued to climb, the city police claimed on Monday to have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in over 30 target killings.

The Awami National Party’s (ANP) general secretary, district west, was gunned down in SITE on Monday, while two more men were killed in separate shootings. Sixty-five-year-old Advocate Haji Hanif Khan was on his way to a mosque near his house in Metroville when he was shot from behind.

Witnesses saw three men talking to him and soon after, they heard gunshots. When they looked again, Hanif was lying on the ground while the men were running away. Hanif was a coordinator for the Sindh Labour Minister Amir Nawab Khan and was also a member of the Karachi Bar Association.

ANP activists staged a demonstration at the hospital.

Following the murder, areas including SITE, Orangi, Metroville, Qasba Colony, Katti Pahari, Empress Market, Abul Hassan Isphani Road, MA Jinnah Road, Sohrab Goth, Pehlwan Goth and Gulistan-e-Jauhar remained tense with sporadic aerial firing.

At least three people were injured when armed men forced shopkeepers to shut down their businesses. Hanif was also among the close aides of ANP Sindh chief Shahi Syed.

Police suspect he might have been killed over personal enmity rather than his political affiliations. SHO Faryad Bhatti said the attackers were dressed in shalwar kameez and were Pakhtun. It also seemed that Hanif knew who they were because they talked to him first and he was shot at close range. “The area where the incident occurred is a stronghold of the Pakhtun community and the culprits escaped from Frontier Morr, which is the ANP’s area,” the officer added.

ANP Sindh spokesperson Qadir Khan said the party wanted Hanif’s killers to be arrested, whether it was a personal dispute or a politically motivated killing. The victim’s funeral prayers were offered in Khyber Chowk, Metroville. Police have registered a case.

A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist was also gunned down in Madina Colony. Sajjad Butt, 29, was standing outside his restaurant in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, when two armed men opened fire at him.

SHO Kenson Dean said that the deceased was associated with the MQM’s sub-organisation Muttahida Organising Committee and his brother, Ejaz Butt, is the incharge of MOC Unit-8.

Other shootings

A religious teacher was shot dead in Khudadad Colony near Kashmir Complex. Abdul Hafeez, 32, was a resident of Ibn-e-Sina Lane, Lines Area. Separately, a scavenger was gunned down in Raita Plot, Shah Faisal Colony.

CCPO conference

Sindh police’s Crime Investigation Department said it has arrested three alleged target killers. They were identified as Rao Muhammad alias Grenade, Nadeem Khan alias Rickshaw and Babar Ali.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Karachi Saud Ahmed Mirza said these men belonged to the Mudasir Langra alias Mudasir chief group. They were hired killers, however, the police could not say who had paid them. They confessed to have killed 30 people in Karachi.

They were arrested from a house in block-6, Pehlwan Goth after an encounter. Three other accomplices managed to escape. The arrested men were also involved in cases of robberies, police encounters, kidnapping for ransom, narcotics and bomb blasts. “They also confessed to have raped women,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2011.

COMMENTS (16)

tarek | 13 years ago | Reply Can you stop using outdated pictures. It just potrays that anarcy reigns supreme in Karachi...I live in Karachi and don't even notice these killings....so stop using pictures that portray a complete breakdown of law and order....
Mohammad Ali Siddiqui | 13 years ago | Reply K for Karachi and K for Killings. The both K’s go together.
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