ANP leader was killed over arrangement of pushcarts

Law enforcers have apprehended two men involved in the shooting at Jinnah hospital.

KARACHI:

Law enforcers and witnesses claimed that Awami National Party’s (ANP) joint secretary for district South, Ramzan Kakar, was not gunned down on Friday in an act of target killing but because of a dispute over the arrangement of pushcarts along a street in Saddar.

DSP Zameer Abbasi said Kakar was killed over a dispute between Asif and a man known as Master, who were responsible for the arrangement of pushcarts and roadside stalls in Saddar.”Both of them take money from vendors and offer them a spot for pushcarts and roadside stalls. This often results in disputes between them,” he said.

One of the eyewitnesses had the same story to tell. After an exchange of hot words, “Master whipped out his cellphone and called Abdur Rehman but the argument worsened and Abdur Rehman shot Asif, after which his friends called Kakar.”

The witness added that upon seeing Kakar, Master and Abdur Rehman tried to flee. But Asif’s friends got a hold of Abdur Rehman and started beating him. It was then that Kakar was shot.

Another witness said that Asif and Master had been quarreling over the placement of pushcarts for a few days leading up to the incident on Friday. “Two days prior to the incident, the men had been sitting here and trying to resolve the dispute but they failed,” he said.

DSP Abbasi said that two policemen, ASI Qasim Nabi Bukhsh and constable Tariq Shafiq, were injured as they were trying to rescue Abdur Rehman when he was caught by Kakar’s group. Two passersby, Imdad and Habib, were also injured during crossfire. Imdad later died at Civil hospital.

Preedy police have registered an FIR against four unidentified men for killing Ramzan Kakar on behalf of his elder brother, Abdul Bari Kakar, who is the president of ANP’s district South. Saddar police has yet to register a case for the firing incident inside Jinnah hospital.

Routine and commercial activities remained suspended on Saturday in Empress Market, Bohri Bazaar and Regal Chowk. Kakar’s body was sent to his hometown for burial.



Bari Kakar told The Express Tribune that he did not accept the version of the police or the witnesses. “I wasn’t present at the spot where the incident took place but I have information which led me to believe that this was a target killing,” he said. “There were four men who attacked him - but I don’t know who they were, which group they belonged to or why they killed my brother.”

Footage of Jinnah hospital released

CCTV footage of the shooting on Friday at Jinnah hospital has been released. It shows Kakar’s body being brought to the hospital in a rickshaw and armed men killing Abdur Rehman inside the casualty department.

DSP Abbasi said that Abdur Rehman was killed by Saddam Kakar, who belongs to Ramzan Kakar’s group, inside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. He has now been arrested along with Asif. The police are also on the lookout for Master and his accomplices.

Security at Jinnah hospital has been tightened and the administration has written a letter to the government, asking for more law enforcers to be deployed there. “There was already one Rangers picket here, which helped a lot. But we still need more security, said Dr Seemin Jamali, who is in charge of the hospital’s accident and emergency department. “Doctors and paramedical staff are now in the hospital and we are back on our regular duties.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2012.