KARACHI, July 30: The law and order situation in Malir turned grave on Tuesday evening following the arrests of a number of activists of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement. The ensuing firing in the air by unidentified people paralysed life in the area. Police said late in the night that a taxi driver was killed in Malir City by a stray bullet.

The police had launched a manhunt late on Monday night for the killers of Zahid Khan, who was gunned down near RCD Ground in Saudabad on July 19. Zahid was a first cousin of Taufeeq Zahid, SHO New Karachi who played an important role in the operation against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The police believe that the activists of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement are involved in the killing of Zahid as the deceased had shops in Liaquat Market, Malir, and had refused to give “donations” to the activists. He had lodged an FIR against them for demanding ‘bhatta’ and the police had arrested the suspects now facing trial in the court. Their bail plea was turned down recently.

“We are after the suspected killers of Zahid Khan and in the course of their trace we have found seven men wanted in several criminal cases. We have arrested all seven of them. Hence the disturbance in the law and order situation”, DIG Karachi Operation Tariq Jamil told Dawn. He said the police had not launched a crackdown on the MQM (Haqiqi). “However, the search for the killers is going on”, he added.

About the intense firing in the air by unidentified men in different parts of Malir that spread panic in the residents, he said: “The incident of sporadic firing has indeed created fear among the citizens. We have increased the deployment of the police and intensified patrolling in the troubled area to maintain law and order. The situation is under control.”

The residents of Malir said their area reverberated with gunshots in the evening.

Some people on motorbikes started firing in the air and vanished into the narrow streets where the police vans could not enter.

The heavy firing caused suspension in the movement of public transport. However, four-seater vehicles and a thin number of private vehicles remained plying the roads. In the wake of the firing, the shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and almost all the markets were closed in the evening in Saudabad, Liaquat Market, Malir Tanki and F-South Area, Khokhrapar, etc.

The residents said that those returning home from their workplaces faced severe hardships in the absence of public transport.

The sources said that the members of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement tried to open their unit office near RCD Ground which was forcefully closed by the police some 10 days back. The police deployed there kept them from doing it. The activists asked the police to give written orders so that they could approach the court. Instead, the police arrested 39 party members including four leaders of the party.

Sporadic firing into the air continued into late night,till the filing of this report. Youngsters riding motorcycles appeared on the main roads, fired guns into the air and disappeared in the narrow lanes when police chased them. “The hide-and-seek between the armed youths and the police continues,” a resident told Dawn. Tension gripped almost entire Malir and most people stayed indoors.