KARACHI: Eight more people, including two activists of the Awami National Party (ANP), were killed on Sunday in the ongoing targeted violence that started last week. After a brief pause on Saturday night, the killings once again resumed on Sunday morning from the Surjani Town area when two bullet-riddled bodies were found there.
Police said they received information that two bodies had been found in a vehicle parked in Sector-7C, North Karachi, at the Northern Bypass. A police mobile rushed towards the spot and shifted the bodies to a hospital.
They added that unidentified criminals had tortured the deceased persons badly before killing them and later threw the bodies in the area. During investigation, the deceased were identified as Bacha Rehman and his nephew Sajjad Khan.
Both were activists of the ANP, attached to the Khwaja Ajmer Nagri ward, and were residents of Surjani Town. As the news of the incident reached the area, tension developed there and armed men resorted to aerial firing, forcing traders to shut down their businesses.
Moreover, in the same area, a group of armed men started firing on people in the streets, injuring three persons, including a teenage boy. The injured were rushed to a hospital where all the three succumbed to their injuries. Police said one of the deceased was identified as Tahir, 32, while the other two remained unknown.
Soon after the incident, violent activities intensified in Surjani Town and stretched to two more of its areas, Taisar Town and Khuda Ki Basti, where armed groups clashed and openly used firearms. Two shops were also torched in Taisar Town.
Meanwhile, police teams of District West, under the supervision of SSP Asif Ijaz Sheikh, reached the area and launched a crackdown against the criminal elements.
The SSP, while talking to our sources, said he, along with his district force, entered the disturbed localities and ordered his subordinates to nab those involved in violent activities. He called the elders and influential people of the area, who informed the police that five people were killed by a group, operating under the supervision of Naveed alias Master Naveed.
The SSP said taking notice on people’s complaints, he immediately directed the force to conduct raids at the hideouts of Master Naveed. After various raids, the police arrested Master Naveed from the Surjani Town area after an encounter and recovered two repeaters, 1 SMG, 9mm pistols and hundreds of bullets from his hideout. The police have shifted the accused to an unknown place for investigation. Ijaz Sheikh said that after Naveed’s arrest, peace was restored to the area and he had ordered the district police to establish pickets in the disturbed areas to avert any untoward situation.
SSP Sheikh said on information from Master Naveed, the District West police conducted raids and arrested four more suspects with arms and ammunition. He added that the police were now grilling those arrested. Moreover, they were also searching for the owner of the house who had provided shelter to the four suspects. Separate FIRs have been lodged and investigation was underway.
Also on Sunday morning, another bullet-riddled body was found from the Pak Colony area. Police said the body was lying near the Kabari Market in Shershah. They added that the deceased, who was of about 25 years of age and was badly tortured before being shot dead, could not be identified. The case was reported at the concerned police station.
A bullet-riddled body of a man was found from the Pakistan Bazar area on Sunday morning. The body was found near the Millat School in Sector-18A, police said and added that the deceased was brutally tortured and then killed with firearms. The case has been reported at the police station.
Later, in the afternoon, two armed men gunned down a passerby near Urdu Bazar in the Arambagh area. Police said on investigation from eyewitnesses, it was found that a motorcycle stopped near the Urdu Bazar Chowk and two riders shot dead the third person who was with them. They dropped his body there and fled.
The Arambagh police said the identity of the deceased was still unknown, adding the case had been reported and investigation was underway. The situation in the city was tense till our going to the press. The killings brought the number of dead to more than 320 in the month of July, the highest death toll in a single month in about 20 years.
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