Target killings : Six men gunned down in drive-by shootings

Victims include four Pakhtuns, an MQM activist.

KARACHI:

Six people including a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist were gunned down in incidents of target killings on Sunday. Four of the victims were Pakhtuns.

Twenty-six-year-old Mohammad Azam, son of Mohammad Aslam, was standing near a milk shop in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal when unidentified armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on him. SHO Kenson Dean said Azam was an MQM activist associated with Unit 67-C.

The victim was first taken to a private hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Later his body was moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Police said he was shot in the head and neck. No FIR has been registered yet because “the family is too busy with the burial arrangements”, said the police.

In a separate incident, unidentified men shot dead a former policeman. Forty-year-old Maher Ali Baloch, son of Hassan Baloch, was shot twice in the abdomen and killed near the Mauripur truck stand.

SP Javed Baloch said that the deceased was dismissed from service over his alleged involvement in criminal activities. Maher was a resident of Lyari. After he was sacked from the police force, he had a robust criminal history. He first joined the Ghaffar Zikri group, a notorious Lyari gang, and then the more infamous Rehman Dakait. At present, however, he was running his own gang, SP Baloch informed.

“He had been involved in various cases of heinous crimes, including murder and attempted murder, and had even served time,” added the police officer.

Meanwhile, two Pakthun men were killed late Saturday night in a drive-by shooting. Their bodies were found near Kamran Chowrangi within the remits of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station. They were identified as 20-year-old Atiquz Zaman, son of Minajuddin, and Shera, 25, son of Haji Sharif.

Atiq was alive when the police found him. He was first taken to a private hospital, where he died. Later, both bodies were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

SHO Asif Jhakrani said he asked his officers to move them to another hospital because they were Pakhtuns. “We have to take care because of frequent ethnic violence,” he explained.

Jhakrani said that both the victims were friends and used to reside in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The murder weapon was a .30 bore pistol in both cases.

According to Jhakrani, the victims were kidnapped from some place and then killed here.

“I don’t know why they were killed but [I wish] they hadn’t been killed in my area,” the SHO added.

The young men hailed from Peshawar. Their bodies were handed over to their families, who left for their hometowns to bury them.

The police registered a case on the complaint of Atiq’s uncle, Fakharuddin against unidentified persons.

There were some rumours that the victims were affiliated with the Awami National Party but ANP spokesperson Qadir Khan told The Express Tribune that the victims had no link with the party. He said they were labourers and they might have been ethnic killings.

Another Pakhtun was killed while a man was injured when two armed men on a motorcycle opened fire at them on Rashid Minhas Road within the jurisdiction of the Sharae Faisal police. Abdul Waheed Khan, 45, son of Abdul Aziz Khan, died while Gul Fayyaz, 40, sustained injuries. Police officials said that the deceased used to run a tea shop in the area.

They registered an FIR against unidentified men.

Elsewhere, an elderly man, Kamal Khan, was shot dead while he was sleeping outside his house in Macchar Colony within the jurisdiction of the Docks police. The victim was a Pakhtun and in his 70s. The police have registered a case on the complaint of his son, Iqbal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2011.