Neighbours clash: Three men shot dead over pushcart dispute

Police have arrested three brothers and their father for the murders.

KARACHI: Two brothers and their brother-in-law were shot dead by their neighbours in Ashraf Nagar locality of Paposh Nagar.

The two brothers, identified as Sudair Ahmed and Wazir Ahmed, and their brother-in-law, Nawaz, were shot dead during a scuffle with their neighbours near their home located at Nazimabad's Paposh Nagar locality, late on Sunday night.

The police also launched an overnight targeted operation and arrested three brothers, Arif, Faizan and Adil, and their father, Ameer Afzal, and registered a case against them. Afzal's eldest son, Faisal, is still on the run. The police also claim to have seized weapons from their possession.

Witnesses said that the incident occurred when Faisal and his brother engaged in an argument with the deceased over the placement of a pushcart outside their home. "Rickshaws used to park outside Faisal's residence, but, for the last few days, a pushcart was being set up in their place," Safdar, a resident, told The Express Tribune. "The conflict continued for over weeks. Faisal and his brothers had several arguments with the deceased over the matter."

The residents said that both the victims and the suspects lived in the same area since decades and had known each other for a long time. Over the past couple of weeks, however, they had several arguments regarding the setting up of the pushcart outside Faisal's residence. "Each time, the issue was resolved through the intervention of elders from both sides," said another resident, Wakil Ahmed.

On Saturday night, Faisal and his brothers approached the victims and asked them to remove the vending cart from outside their house. The latter refused and a heated argument ensued. "The argument continued for at least half an hour before Faisal pulled out a gun opened fire at the victims," one of the witnesses told The Express Tribune.

All three victims were shot multiple times. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they succumbed to injuries during treatment.

The arrested suspects blamed the victims for the incident. "They are responsible for what happened as they forced us to take action. We tried to reason with them several times and asked them not to erect the vending carts outside our house," said one of the arrested suspects.

Sudair Ahmed was the local leader of a Pashtun-based political party. Police officials said, however, that the incident had no link to any political party or extortion. "It just happened between the two families," said Paposh Nagar SHO Tahir Khan.

Vending carts and encroachments are a major issue in Karachi, which have claimed several lives. In December 2012, Awami National Party local leader Ramzan Kakar and a Pakistan Peoples Party leader Abdur Rehman were killed over a dispute regarding the placement of pushcarts along a street in Saddar. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's land department deputy director Muhammad Ishaq was also shot dead during an anti-encroachment drive in New Karachi in February 2014. The murders of a social worker, Perween Rahman in March 2013 in Orangi Town and Preedy SHO Aijaz Khawaja in April 2015 were also believed to have been carried out by mafias behind encroachments.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2015.