Violence continues: Karachi’s death toll for the day reaches eight

Unrest in Hyderabad after killing of political worker.

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI: At least eight people were killed in separate acts of target killings and violence in Karachi on Monday.

Two passersby and an alleged extortionist were killed, while a shopkeeper was injured in an exchange of fire between shopkeepers and extortionists in a meat market located near National Highway. The bodies and the injured were moved to Jinnah hospital.

The deceased passersby were identified as Haji Noor Muhammad, 30, Abdul Kareem, 50, and the alleged extortionist as Arshad Ayub, 25. The injured shopkeeper was identified as Naeem Khan, 35. "During the exchange of fire, two shopkeepers and an extortionist were killed and another shopkeeper was wounded," DSP Rao Iqbal told The Express Tribune. "The suspects were collecting extortion for ‘cultural day’."



Two suspects linked to the shootings were reportedly arrested while they received treatment in a private hospital in Malir. However, Iqbal refused to comment on it.

A trader, 40-year-old Abdul Samad Tabani, was killed near Electronics Market in Saddar within the Preedy police remits. He was shot five times by at least two armed motorcyclists when he arrived at the Tabani Market in a rickshaw.

Following the incident, a number of shopkeepers closed their shops down and staged a protest - burning tyres on the road and suspending traffic flow for a few hours while shouting slogans against the police. "The culprits killed him in front of a police van," said a protester. "The police did not take any action and just stood still." Protesters also claimed that they had informed the police several times of the extortion threats that they had received but had been ignored. However, SHO Yar Muhammad Rind claimed that the police were unaware of any extortion threats.

Two people were killed when a couple of armed motorcyclists fired indiscriminately at a Pakwan shop in Orangi Town. The deceased were identified as Ashraf, 20, and Javed Khan, 22.

Meanwhile, an alleged criminal, Raheel Khaskheli, 33, was shot dead in Lyari's Kalri area. SHO Raja Tanvir said that deceased was associated with the Baba Ladla group and was a police informer, adding that he was killed by the members of a rival gang.

Separately, Khurram Shahid, 32, was killed when armed men opened fire as he was sitting outside a printing press in Nazimabad. Gulbahar police are unaware of the motive and the victim's political affiliations. Two people were also wounded when unidentified armed men lobbed a cracker bomb inside a godown near Ghani Chowrangi in SITE.

Unrest in Hyderabad

A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker, Rashid Khan, was gunned down in Mirpurkhas on Sunday night. On Monday, as the deceased was being laid to rest in a graveyard, mourners forcefully closed the markets, eliciting a backlash from the traders who also staged protests. A shopkeeper, Shehroze Sathio, was injured as pieces of glass pierced his body during an argument with protesters at his shop. MQM MPA Zafar Kamali alleged that drug dealers killed Khan in front of many other people and accused the police for allowing the killers to escape.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2014.