Target killings: 11 more people die in the city as killings continue unabated

11 more injured, Rangers seize weapons from a flat in Eidgah area.

KARACHI:

In yet another wave of target killings, nine men were gunned down while two bodies were found in the city on Saturday, said the police.

A policeman, Rizwan Ahmed, died and two more, Raza and Imran, were injured when a police picket in Sohrab Goth was attacked late on Saturday evening. According to DSP Iftikhar Lodhi, the picket was set up after the Mehsud tribe protested against the nomination of inspector Azam Mehsud, his brother Sher Zaman and a friend Zubair Mehsud in the FIR lodged after the attack on Malir SSP Rao Anwar. Lodhi said that initial investigation suggested that the same people were behind the attack on these policemen.  The victim and the injured were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The police also detained 17 men who are in questioning. Within an hour, assailants targeted another hotel in Block H of North Nazimabad in which one man died and three others were injured. DSP Rasheed Khan said that all were affiliated with Pakistan Peoples Party. The victim, Shahid, was the former member of the party’s Zakat Committee.

Separately, a prayer leader, Arif Ejaz Khan, was shot dead outside a mosque situated in Akbar Baloch Goth in Steel Town in a drive-by shooting. In yet another attack, a taxi driver, Khursheed, was killed and two others, Murtaza and Anwer, were also injured in Shah Faisal Colony.

A teenager died in an explosion in his own house near Manora on Saturday night. Fourteen-year-old Sohail saw explosive material flowing in the water near his house in MAC Colony and began to play with it. SHO Madad Ali said Pakistan Navy was looking into the matter.

Earlier in the day, in Meena Bazaar, a 40-year-old pushcart vendor, Abdul Karim Ghanchi, was shot dead near his house, said the PIB Colony police. They claim that two motorcyclists shot at him twice and escaped. They suspect that Ghanchi was killed for being an informant of a rival group. However, ASI Rana Ajmal said that Ghanchi was not affiliated with any political party.

A rickshaw driver, Khurram, 24, alias Shani was killed in Landhi. He was a resident of Korangi. SHO Mazhar Awam said that he was killed near Landhi No.6.

Zar Gul, 46, was gunned down outside his house in Hazara Chowk, Orangi Town.SHO Waqar Jadoon said that Gul’s family suspected that he was killed over a personal enmity.

Barkat Khan, 23, was shot dead in Baldia Town in a drive-by shooting.  The police said that Khan lived in Baldia Town and was a scavenger.

The body of an alleged Lyari gangster, 26-year-old Imran Baloch, was found near the DC office in North Nazimabad, said the Taimuria police. There were reports that he was a Pakistan Peoples Party leader in Manghopir but SHO Kamal Naseem said that he had a criminal record and was associated with a gang in Lyari. He added that Baloch had been arrested twice. The SHO claimed that Baloch was shot at three times by unidentified men in a car.

Shahid, 26, was found dead in Korangi. SHO Nail Mohammad Jakhrani said that Shahid was a resident of Shah Faisal Colony and used to work for a private company. He added that Shahid was kidnapped and shot in the head. He was from Punjab, had been married twice and might have been killed over a family dispute.

A seminary student, 17-year-old Mohammad Daud was shot dead in Ghazi Town. DSP Rao Iqbal said that Daud used to study at Madrassa Arabia Islamia and he was with somone when he was killed.

Sarwar Bahadur, a leader of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat, formerly known as banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, was injured when armed motorcyclists shot at him on Lasbela Road. Bahadur’s brother and an ASWJ supporter were also injured. The Rangers spokesperson claimed that they had seized six repeater pistols, four Kalashnikovs, five TT pistols and bullets from a flat in Eidgah.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2012.