Target killings: Landhi on edge as Haqiqi man’s funeral participants attacked

Assailants open fire at people returning from graveyard; bus driver hurt.

KARACHI:

If Farooq Badshah’s apparent targeted killing wasn’t enough, his friends and relatives were in for another shock. Unidentified attackers opened fire at the mourners while they were returning from the graveyard after burying the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) activist.

The attack spread tension in the Landhi area as several localities echoed with gunfire. Routine and commercial activities were suspended and Rangers as well as police were called in to control the situation. The police also picked up about a dozen people from the area. SP Latif Siddiqui said that the people will be released after questioning. Earlier in the day, 29-year-old Badshah was shot dead by assailants in the Landhi area. His funeral was held after the Friday prayers and he was laid to rest in the Sherpao Colony graveyard.

More than 150 participants of his funeral were returning from the cemetery, when unidentified armed men attacked them near Murtaza Chowrangi in Landhi No. 4.  The police said that the driver of the funeral bus was injured in the attack and was taken to the Jinnah hospital. Several empty rounds of Kalashnikov bullets were found at the crime scene, they added.

MQM-H leader Khalid Hameed claimed that five of his party activists had gone missing after the attack carried out by members of a rival political party. He feared that they may have been kidnapped by the attackers. “The police had ensured us of providing protection, but all the policemen escaped when the people were attacked, leaving the MQM-H men alone,” alleged Hameed.

SP Siddiqui contradicted the allegations however, saying that had the police not responded on the spot, there would have been bloodshed. The police opened fire at the attackers, forcing them to flee and no MQM-H activist was injured or killed, he added.

More killings

A transporter identified as 35-year-old Abdul Sattar Baloch was gunned down near Teen Hatti. The police said that unidentified armed men sprayed the victim’s car with bullets. Baloch, a resident of Lyari, was shot in the head and was taken to the Civil hospital, where he died.

In the limits of Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan police, 38-year-old Amanullah Nazar was gunned down near his residence in Afridi Colony. The victim was standing outside his home when unidentified armed men opened fire at him, killing him on the spot. The police said that the victim was involved in the transport and marble business.

In an unrelated incident, a 30-year-old woman, mother of four, was gunned down inside her house in Baloch Goth within the Orangi Town police remits. Police officials said that Gul Bano may have been killed by her husband, Jaffar, over some domestic dispute as he is missing. Separately, the body of a boy was found from a garbage dump in Shah Faisal Colony. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The police said that Faisal lived in Akhtar Colony and was kidnapped five day ago, when he had gone out to buy milk.

Arrest

A suspect allegedly associated with a religious organisation and involved in several targeted killings was picked up by Rangers during a raid in Baldia Town. Rangers sources said that the man identified as Kamal was wanted in several target killings cases. The suspect was shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2012.