Drive-by shootings: MQM, PPP men among seven people shot dead

Young couple with words ‘pyar ka tohfa’ written on clothes found near Gadap Town.

KARACHI:

Activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were among the seven people shot dead in drive-by shootings across the city on Monday.

The jurisdiction of PIB police station was the most violent. According to the police, around three to four unidentified men opened fire at Hot and Juicy BBQ restaurant and critically injured 52-year-old Mateen, who is believed to be associated with the MQM, 28-year-old Sanaullah, 40-year-old Salahuddin and a passerby Sajid.

The victims were taken to Jinnah hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Mateen and Sanaullah died. Mateen, son of Abdul Aleem, was the owner of a carom-board shop and is believed to be the main target of the culprits, said SHO Tariq Islam. Sanaullah, who hails from Rahim Yar Khan, used to work at the restaurant.

Earlier, a senior PPP activist, Faiz Brohi, 58, who used to be a UC councillor, was gunned down inside his house in Sango Lane, Chakiwara. SP Javed Baloch confirmed that the deceased was a PPP activist but, he said, he was a professional fraud. He cheated a lot of people and was probably killed over a monetary dispute, he said. According to SP Baloch, some men came to Brohi’s house to settle a monetary dispute and one of them shot him.

In Korangi, Fazl Rehman, 45, son of Bacha Khan, was gunned down in Sector 7-A, Korangi. The deceased was a resident of Shah Rasul Colony in Civil Lines. The Korangi Industrial Area police said the deceased was shot once in the face and died shortly after the incident. His body was taken to Jinnah hospital.

The police also found Rs6,000 cash and the victim’s mobile phone next to the body which suggests that he was not killed upon resistance in a robbery bid, said SP Usman Ghani. Meanwhile, a young girl and a man were found dead in the bushes in Gadap Town. Gulshan-e-Maymar police have yet to identify the victims because they were brutally tortured and have multiple bullet wounds.

According to DSP Iftikhar Lodhi, the young man was wearing white shalwar kameez and the girl was wearing red shalwar kameez. The words ‘pyar ka tohfa’ [a gift of love] were written on the boy’s shirt. The investigations suggest, however, that the families of the couple may have killed them for honour.

The bodies were taken to the Edhi morgue after the post-mortem at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The police have yet to file the case.

In a separate incident, the police found a tortured body of an elderly man from inside his house in Qasba Colony in Pirabad. The victim Miskeen, 63, son of Gul Zaman, used to live near Shahbaz Mor in Qasba Colony.

According to SP Khurram Waris, the deceased was a retired officer of the Karachi Development Authority and hailed from Punjab. He used to live alone in the house he was found.

Defuct PAC member killed

A former activist of the defunct Peoples Amn Committee was gunned down in Lyari near Bakra Piri. Kalakot police said that two men on a motorcycle opened fire at 33-year-old Zahid Magsi, who was in a rickshaw with his 13-year-old nephew, Faiz Mohammad Magsi. They were taken to Civil hospital where they died.

According to SP Javed Baloch, Zahid, was a grave digger by profession. The investigation suggests that the notorious gangster, Arshad Pappu’s brothers, Shera and Bilal, were behind the incident. In the resulting firing, three men, Rafiq, Khurram and Mushtaq, were injured.

Shortly after the incident, unidentified men gunned down Zahid’s relative, Abdul Latif, 39. He was on his way to Zahid’s funeral from Balochistan with his cousin, Razia, when he was targeted. Razia was also injured in the incident. The police have yet to register the FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2011.