Armed men on motorcycles reappear, target 11 in 2 days

The death toll mounts to 11 in the last 24 hours.

KARACHI: At least five people were killed on Monday, including an activist of the Bengali Action Committee, a sister organisation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). This brings the total to 11 over the last 24 hours.

A ruling coalition partner, the MQM, commented on the ‘target killings’ in a press conference on Monday. The party said Sindh home minister and federal interior minister were responsible for the killings and the authorities had not been able to clamp down on violence in the city. The party said that it had been trying to keep peace intact but certain people did not want this to happen.

The newly appointed chief of police, Fayyaz Ahmed Laghari, spent part of the day huddled up with senior government officials discussing the violence. He told Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza at the Central Police Office that 32 suspects had been arrested in target killing cases.

The officers were informed that as many as 32 groups of notorious “terrorists” had been busted over the last eight months thanks to coordination between the Rangers, police and intelligence agencies.

Mirza was told that 60 per cent of target killings had been solved and recommendations had been made to the home department about acquiring the services of private prosecutors.

The meeting was attended by IGP Sultan Salhuddin Babar Khatak, the additional IGs, the Special Branch’s DIG, Zonal DIGs and DIG Headquarters Ghulam Nabi Memon.

The bullet-riddled body of the activist was found in Ali Akbar Shah Goth in the limits of Ibrahim Hyderi police station. SHO Lal Bux Depar said the victim was identified as 29-year-old Zia-ur Rehman, a resident of Zaman Town, Sector 2.5 Korangi. He was abducted on Sunday evening, and the police found his body in the bushes in the early hours of Monday. He had been tortured and his hands and legs were tied before he was shot dead.

The body was handed over to his family at Jinnah hospital. A case was registered, but against unidentified people.

Separately, the owner of tyre puncture stall was gunned down in what was a suspected target killing near the 2-K bus stop in North Nazimabad’s Block J near Farooq Azam mosque. The Sharah-e-Noor Jahan police said that the victim, Imran Bux, 27, was at work on a motorcycle when two armed men arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on him. He was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Police said the victim was a resident of Nusrat Bhutto Colony and hailed from Rahimyar Khan.

Another man was shot in Ayub Goth. Sohrab Goth SHO Ghulam Ahmed Sheikh said 36-year-old Riyaz Magsi was going home to Saiful Goth, and when he reached Sukhiya Goth armed man attacked him. His body was also taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The officer said the victim hailed from Balochistan. The family will register a case after the burial.

Elsewhere, a malang or wandering Sufi devotee was shot dead in Ghareeb Shah Mazaar, Malir Kala Board. Al Falah DSP Mukhtiar Hussain Khaskheli said the victim Aslam, 40, was sitting outside the shrine when he was shot dead. The body was taken to Jinnah hospital. and later to the Edhi morgue. He hailed from Multan and used to live at the shrine.

The Sukhan police also found a five-day-old body in the bushes near Maqti Shah Baba Mazaar. People from the area pointed the police to it. The man’s hands and legs were tied and he had been beaten. He was wearing a white shalwar kameez and Peshawari sandals.

An MQM activist was killed in Christian Para, reported the Zaman Town police Sunday night. SHO Abdul Nabi Khokhar said the victim, identified as 22-year-old Dilawar Inayat Masih, was outside his house with some friends when three unidentified men arrived on the scene and gunned him down.

Funerals

As the new bodies piled up, the funerals of men killed a day earlier were held on Monday. They included political workers of the MQM, a banned militant outfit and a Shia.

The funeral of Farhan of Federal B Area was performed at Jamia Mosque after Zuhr prayers. He was buried in Azizabad. Sources said that he was an active worker of unit No 146 and was killed at Yousaf Plaza by unidentified armed men on a motorcycle.

Separately, the funeral of Tanveer Abbas, who was killed in Rizvia Society, was held at Imambargah Shah-e Qarbala, Rizvia. He was buried at Wadi-e-Hussain.

The funerals of three activists of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat were held at Siddique Akber mosque at Nagan Chowrangi. These men were killed in North Karachi, UP Morr.

After the funerals, Liaqatabad, Nazimabad, Gulberg and New Karachi shut down and there were reports of violence at Water Pump when men forced shops to close. Angry activists from political and religious parties fired shots in the air to register their protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.