* Over 80 motorcycles, 10 vehicles, five hotels and several pushcarts set ablaze
KARACHI: As many as 25 people, including activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), were killed and several others were injured in various parts of the city on Monday.
KARACHI: As many as 25 people, including activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), were killed and several others were injured in various parts of the city on Monday.
Besides, armed miscreants torched 10 vehicles and half of dozen hotels in parts of the city while 80 motorcycles were torched in Sohrab Goth Industrial Area.
At least three people, Habibur Rehman, 45, Imran Hussain, 26 and Naeem Niaz, 30 were shot dead in parts of Sarjani Town, including Yousuf Goth, Taiser Town and Khuda Ki Basti and seven people, including two policemen, were injured during an armed clash between two groups. However, during the clash, armed men also torched four vehicles including two mini buses and half a dozen hotels. The law enforcement agencies remained unable to enter the violence-hit areas while residents remained confined to their houses.
Also the most violence-hit area was Orangi Town where two people, including an MQM worker Kamran Hanif, were kidnapped and killed in separate incidents. While discovering their bodies, tension engulfed parts of Orangi Town where over a dozen people were wounded during intense firing between armed groups.
Miscreants also torched two passenger coaches and a rickshaw and also attacked a police mobile with hand grenades but fortunately no loss of life was reported.
Miscreants having sticks and batons also injured several people standing at different bus stops in Orangi Town. A retired major, Nasir, was also taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital after he was injured in a firing incident on Manghopir.
The areas of the Pak Colony and Old Golimar were also badly disturbed after the recovery of two bodies, including an MQM worker, Ashfaq Ahmed. Two vehicles were also torched in the area.
At Sohrab Goth Industrial Area, around a dozen armed men ambushed the parking area of a textile factory and torched over 80 motorcycles. After getting the information, heavy contingents of police and rangers rushed to spot.
DSP Iftikhar Lodhi said it was the parking area of a textile factory and all the vehicles were owned by the factory employees. Scores of factory workers staged a protest demonstration outside the factory.
Meanwhile, at least 16 more people, including a PPP worker and a policeman, were killed in separate incidents across the city. A PPP worker Munawar Hussain was killed in Mobina Town where one vehicle was also torched over the incident.
An elderly man, Zar Lal, 60, and his young son Niaz Khan were shot dead in Sharah-e-Noor Jahan in North Nazimabad. Police said both the victims were sitting outside their house where unidentified men targeted them.
In Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Hayatullah was killed and Shahid was wounded in an armed attack at their restaurant in Sharah-e-Faisal police limits. A policeman posted to special branch of the Bomb Disposal Squad, Tariq Dad, was killed in Landhi’s Sharafi Goth area, police said. The victim was going to his duty when armed men on a motorcycle killed him, the police said.
An estate agent, Shah Kareem, was killed while Rab Nawaz and his son Shahnawaz were wounded in an attack at a loading truck in New Karachi. One Abdul Hakeem and Asif Muhammad and an unidentified man were killed in SITE and Aziz Bhatti areas, respectively.
SHO Aziz Bhatti said that identity of a victim was yet to be ascertained and police shifted the body to Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre, while SITE SHO A Mumtaz Magsi said that victim Abdul Hakeem was going in a pickup when unidentified men opened firing on him, resultantly, four other people, including a woman received bullet injuries. Police shifted them to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Two young men were shot dead in Sheesha Market within the precincts of Eid Gah police station. The victim, Abdul Qadir, 30, was sitting with his friend Bilal when unidentified armed men reached there on a motorcycle and opened firing on them, resultantly Qadir died on the spot. Later Bilal also succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.
Separately, two bodies stuffed in gunny bags were found from a park situated in Nazimabad but identities of the victims could not be ascertained.
Farhan son of Khadim Hussain was shot dead in Safora Chowrangi in the precincts of Sacchal police station while a man named Rahim Dad was shot dead within the limits of Maripur police station. Police said the victim was released from jail one week ago. A 45-year old man, Afsar, was shot dead in Korangi in the limits of Awami Colony police station. A firing victim, Saiful Islam, succumbed to his injuries at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.