Targeted killing: KMC employee shot dead in Hussainabad

The deceased was hit by seven bullets in different parts of the body

KARACHI: Unidentified assailants shot and killed an employee of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) at Hussainabad locality of Federal B Area in Central district on Monday. The deceased was struck by seven bullets in different parts of the body. Nine bullet shells of a 9mm pistol were recovered from the scene of the crime. According to police, the deceased was called to the location through a phone call. They said the late KMC employee was on his motorcycle waiting for someone.

Two unidentified men killed him by opening fire at him at Hussainabad, near Okhai Memon Masjid, in the limits of Azizabad police station. The deceased, identified as Shakeel Ahmed, aged 35, son of Shafiq Ahmed, was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. He was a resident of house no. L-72 Sector 5C 4, North Karachi, and worked as a clerk in KMC's engineering department.

Rangers and police officials reached the scene after receiving information of the incident. They recovered nine bullet shells of a 9mm pistol and have begun investigating the incident. According to Azizabad DSP Shaukat Raza, someone had phoned and summoned the deceased to Hussainabad, near Okhai Memon Masjid. The DSP said Shakeel was sitting on his motorcycle without his helmet and was waiting for someone when two armed men on a motorcycle came from the opposite direction, opened fire on him and escaped the scene.

The DSP termed it as an incident of target killing but said the police is investigating the case from various angles.  The SHO said that the deceased was shot seven times on different parts of the body including head, arm, and back. Central SSP Arif Aslam Rao said that two bullets in critical parts of the body became the cause of death. The actual number of bullets will be determined after the post-mortem.

The SSP said political or religious affiliations of the deceased have not been determined as yet and no political or religious party has so far owned him as their worker. No criminal record of the deceased has been found, he said. The police is approaching the case as a target killing, a case of personal rivalry and from other angles. The CCTV footage from nearby cameras is also being retrieved, he said.

Separately, the body of a man was found from a warehouse near Madina Hotel MPR Colony Mujeeb Goth, in the area of Orangi Town police station. The deceased had a head wound . The police reached the scene on receiving information, took the body in custody and shifted it to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. The deceased was identified as Ayaz Khan, aged 35, son of Khan Muhammad. He was a resident of MPR Colony. Orangi Town SHO Muhammad Basheer said that the deceased fell from the roof top of the warehouse and the accident resulted in his death. The police has handed over the body to the family after investigation.

In another incident, Hazrat Ameen, aged 50, was injured when unidentified armed men opened fire at him near Shabbir Eye Hospital Masjid Darul Islam Metro Ville Sector 3 in the limits of SITE A police station. He was immediately taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. According to police, the incident was the result of a personal rivalry.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2019.