Targeted attacks: Three political activists among seven shot dead

A police constable also died as he was trying to save a boy from being crushed by a train.

KARACHI: Seven people, including three political workers, were gunned down in separate incidents in the city on Tuesday.

In Landhi, a leader of the Sunni Tehreek (ST) was injured in an attack while his friend, 30-year-old Adnan Qadri was shot dead. Prof. Allama Mohammad Saleem Abbas Naqshbandi, a member of the ST’s Ulema Board and a prayer leader at the Jama Masjid Haqqani, was with Qadri when two men on a motorcycle opened fire at them. The police claimed that Abbas and Qadri were standing near Chiragh Hotel when the incident took place. SHO Mazhar Iqbal Awan said that Abbas and Qadri were attacked on Monday night on their way home from the mosque. He added that the suspects were targeting Abbas and confirmed that it was a sectarian attack. According to ST’s spokesperson, Fahim Qadri, Abbas was attacked by the party’s sectarian rivals, who have wanted to take over Haqqani Masjid and were killing party members because of their failure to do so.

The situation in Lines Area became tense after 30-year-old Mohamamd Ali was shot dead near his house, said the Brigade police. They claimed that he was associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s unit-53. ASP Ghulam Murtaza Malik said that Ali was killed over political rivalry. An employee of State Bank of Pakistan identified as 55-year-old Khadim was shot dead on his way home from work, said the Shershah police. SHO Malik Nawaz said that Khadim was from a Pakhtoon family and was a grade-18 officer at the bank. Initial investigation suggests that the suspects were also Pakhtoon and were waiting for him at MA Jinnah Road. The SHO suspects that Khadim was killed over a personal enmity.

The body of an unidentified young man was found in Taiser Town, said the Surjani police. In an unrelated incident the body of an unidentified woman was found by the Sacchal police station. They claimed that she was strangled to death. A worker of the Pakistan Peoples Party,  Zaivar Khan, was shot dead in a crossfire between police and a suspected robber near Baitul Mukarram Masjid in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The suspect was also killed.

Police constable hit by train

A railway police constable, identified as 38-year-old Sohail Mehmood, was hit and killed on Tuesday by a train at the Landhi railway station. Law enforcers say that he was run over by the Sarghoda-bound Super Express as he was trying to save a six-year-old boy, Hameedullah, who was standing on the tracks. Mehmood and the boy were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where the constable was pronounced dead. The boy was later released from the hospital. Mehmood’s funeral prayers were offered near his house and he was laid to rest in the Zafar Town graveyard.

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