Caught in crossfire: Elderly man killed in shoot out between Lyari gangs

Four others injured in separate grenade attack on wine shop

KARACHI: Fear gripped Lyari once again when an elderly man was killed in crossfire between two gangs, while four others were injured in a grenade attack at a wine shop on Thursday.

Sixty-year-old Gul Zafar was heading towards the bus stop in the morning, when he was shot in an exchange of fire between two rival groups of Uzair Baloch and Baba Ladla. The shoot-out took place near Kamela Stop adjacent to Shah Baig Lane, the police said.



Zafar was a retired kit man at the sports department of a bank and was currently working at a factory in Baldia Town. As per his routine, he was going towards the bus stop to take a bus to work when the clash started. "Zafar was lying in a pool of blood when the Rangers and police reached the spot," a police officer said, adding that he succumbed to his wounds on the way to Civil hospital. The officer said that a murder case has been registered against the members of both the groups.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a resident of Lyari said that the people were so terrified after the firing incident that almost all the shops in the area remained closed till evening. "As the local bodies' elections are getting closer, the situation is getting precarious," he said. "Gangs have started making their presence felt in the area."

Wine shop attack

In a separate incident, four people were wounded in a grenade attack on a wine shop in Kalri. The injured were identified as Babar Masih, 30, Chandar, 25, Shankar, 25, and Kumhar, 20. According to the police, the injured were working at the shop when unidentified men on a motorcycle hurled a grenade at the shop.

The police said that the wine store is owned by a man named Nadim and he was not there when the incident took place. The police suspect that the attack was carried out over unpaid extortion money.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2015.