Violent times: Two men gunned down in targeted attacks, two bodies found

KARACHI:

Two Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat workers and an alleged criminal were shot dead while bodies of two of missing Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers were found from the outskirts of the city, in separate incidents.

Two cousins affiliated with the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat were shot dead while another was injured near Sakhi Hassan Chowrangi. SHO Asif Munawar said that Qari Eesarul Qasmi, 25, and his 32-year-old cousin Masood Ahmed were killed while Qasmi's brother, Ziaur Rehman, 28, was taken to Liaquat National Hospital for his injuries.

According to the SHO, unidentified men targeted relatives while they waited for public transport after offering Jumma prayers at Jama Masjid Siddiq-e-Akbar at Nagan Chowrangi. They were on their way back home to New Mianwali Colony in Manghopir. The SHO said they had found empty 9mm bullet shells at the scene of crime.

The ASWJ spokesperson claimed that the men were affiliated with the organisation and frequent targeted attacks showed that the law enforcement agencies had failed to control crime in the city.

Twenty-seven-year-old Shahabuddin was gunned down in an act of target killing near Khajji Ground within the limits of Rizvia police station. The police said the deceased had a criminal record and used to run a gang in the area.

The MQM men whose bodies were found on Friday were identified as Muhammad Ali Khan alias Ali Mirza and Syed Qasim Ali. DSP Rahim Shah told The Express Tribune that a case had been registered and an investigation was underway.

Busted

The son of a retired police officer and his friend was arrested over their alleged involvement in petty crime. Their arrests were disclosed during a press conference held by East Zone Investigation SSP Abdul Majeed Khosa at his office on Friday evening. The police said that the accused, Mohammad Talha, was arrested along with his accomplice, Mohtishim Shafiq during a raid conducted on a tip-off in Model Colony. SSP Khosa said that Talha used to run his own gang of street criminals, adding that besides being involved in various cases of petty crime, the suspects had also killed a supplier of the mineral water company identified as Rizwan Siddiqui in January, 2014, in an attempted mugging. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2014.