Violent times: Two killed in Lyari

Tension has been simmering since Sunday.

KARACHI: The streets of Lyari became a battleground once again as the activists from the Kutchi Rabita Committee (KRC) and the banned Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) had a clash which killed two people and injured half a dozen others.

Trouble surfaced on Sunday when armed assailants killed Zubair ‘Vehshi’ in Bihar Colony. Vehshi was the cousin of Lyari gangster Baba Ladla. Since his death, both parties have been exchanging fire. On Wednesday, the tension escalated after one side kidnapped and killed Ali Mohammad Kutchi, a KRC activist.
Police said that Ali and his friend Imran Yousuf were in a rickshaw on their way to Ali’s electric welding shop in Garden. They were kidnapped from Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Road. “They were first taken to Ali Mohammad Mohallah and tortured,” said a resident. “Then they were taken to Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road and shot.”

Imran managed to escape but Ali died, leading to widespread panic. KRC activists gathered on Mauripur Road to protest. They said that they would march towards Bilawal House and stage a sit-in. Anti-Extremism Cell SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan got there in time and assured them his full cooperation.

Tension gripped the area again when mini rockets were fired at KRC leader Kareem Shah’s house, who has been nominated in Vehshi’s murder case. However, no one was hurt.

At least six people were injured when unidentified men lobbed hand grenades on Shah Abdul Bhittai Road after the police and Rangers had left.

Activists from both groups opened fire and continued to do so for hours.

Earlier, a heavy contingent of the police and Rangers got to Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Road and carried out an operation against gangsters. The SSP told The Express Tribune that they could not enter the area where the gangsters were because the streets were narrow and congested.
They faced further difficulty when they tried to enter through Lyari General Hospital as women had started to protest against the police operation.

A man identified as Umar Kutchi, KRC’s sector in-charge in Baldia Town no.2 was gunned down. The leader of the KRC, Hussain Kutchi told The Express Tribune that Umar’s death had shocked all of them and will decide what to do after his burial.
Activists from both parties kept on exchanging gunshots in Bihar Colony, Agra Taj Colony, Al Falah Road, Jodia Bazaar, and City Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2012.