Violence: Army soldier among 10 people gunned down in city

Bodies of two political workers also found in Surjani Town.

KARACHI:

A soldier of the Pakistan Army was gunned down in Orangi Town on Saturday, while nine other people were also killed in different parts of the city.

Soldier Sajid Khan, 32, was sitting near his house in Orangi Town when armed motorcyclists shot him twice and killed him. Khan was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

Pirabad police officials said that the deceased was posted at Okara district, Punjab. He had come to Karachi five days ago for a 20-day vacation, said the family. "He was busy talking on the phone when some men shot and killed him," said Khan's relative, Kamran. The police have, however, yet to ascertain the motive behind the attack but they suspect he might have been shot for resisting a robbery attempt, said SHO Fasiuz Zaman.

A few hours after the attack, the police claimed to have killed the alleged killer of the soldier during an encounter in the same area. "We managed to trace him after the witnesses informed us where he had fled," said SHO Zaman. "He was killed in an exchange of fire." The police have yet to identify the deceased killer.

This is not the first killing of its kind. Earlier on May 5, some men opened fire at a retired army man, Rasool Khan, in the Kunwari Colony area of Pirabad. On February 23 this year, a retired chief petty officer of the Pakistan Navy, Ali Yar Khan, was shot dead in Orangi Town. On February 8, Asghar, 32, who had been serving as a technician at the Pakistan Air Force base in Peshawar, was shot dead in Orangi Town. Separately, Imran Ali, a soldier of the Pakistan Army was killed in Orangi Town on March 18 last year.

City loses 8 more men

The city lost nine more men in separate acts of violence on Saturday. Surjani Town police found the bodies of two political workers, Danish Aslam, 28, and Abdul Waheed, 29.

SHO Bashir Waddo said that Danish was affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement while Waheed was associated with the Pakistan Peoples Party. Both men were first kidnapped, tortured severely and then shot several times.

Separately, Shah Latif police found the bodies of two young men who have yet to be identified. The police have yet to determine the motive.

Similarly, another young man was found dead from Shah Latif police station remits. The police said unidentified men shot and killed the victim after kidnapping him. The body was moved to the Edhi morgue for identification.

Meanwhile, a bus conductor, later identified as 30-year-old Sabir Saeed, was shot dead in Orangi Town. Iqbal Market police station SHO Ghulam Rasool Rajper said that the deceased was killed for resisting a robbery. In Orangi Town, Hanif Ishaq, 45, was shot dead. Pakistan Bazaar police station SHO Nasir Mehmood said that armed motorcyclists shot and killed Ishaq while he was standing near his house.

Arshad Javed, 50, was shot dead in Usmanabad within Kalakot police remits. A worker of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Javed Anis Ansari, 35, was shot dead in an act of target killing near Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2014.