June 17, 2005	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1426

KARACHI, June 16: Before the police and the Sunni Tehrik (ST) agreed to a compromise on the registration of FIRs in the night, another ST activist was killed on Thursday morning, bringing the death toll of men killed in gunfights between the ST and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to three.

Besides, four people were also reported wounded in various incidents of firing in the old city areas. Tension gripped different localities including Kharadar, Mithadar, Bohrapir, Ranchore Line, Garden, Burnes Road, Jama Cloth, and adjoining areas, where unknown persons resorted to aerial firing forcing shopkeepers to close their shops.

Two ST activists — Faizul Hasan Butt and Ashraf Qadri — were gunned down near Radio Pakistan on M.A. Jinnah Road on Wednesday night. Another ST activist, identified as Danish, was shot at and wounded in the Garden area. He died at hospital.

Earlier on Tuesday, heavy exchange of fire took place between the activists of the MQM and the ST in Ranchore Line, where three activists of the MQM and a passer-by were wounded. During the clash and subsequent violence, a unit office of the ST in the area was also allegedly ransacked and set on fire.

The killings of three ST activists sparked violence in different localities with miscreants setting ablaze a minibus near Bhoja Terrace on Shahrah-i-Liaquat. Two minibuses were set on fire near the Sindhi Hotel in New Karachi. A car was set on fire near UP Mor.

Reports of aerial firing were also received from various localities including Mithadar, Kharadar, Denso Hall, Bohrapir, Machhi Miani, Burnes Road, Garden, etc.

Mohammad Hasan, eight, was shot at and wounded in Machhi Miani. He was admitted to hospital. Hasan Ahmed, Asad, and Jamil were also shot at and wounded in Sabzi Bazaar, Ranchore Line. The injured were shifted to hospital.

Heavy deployment of police was made in the troubled areas to maintain law and order. Police mobile vans patrolled the areas throughout the day to keep an eye on unscrupulous elements.

However, some youths with guns forced shopkeepers to close their shops in Bolton Market, Juna Market, Bohrapir and other old areas. Commercial activities remained suspended in these areas throughout the day.

Even the medical stores in front of the Civil Hospital, which remain open round the clock, were forcibly closed down by miscreants.

The police raided different places to arrest activists of the ST. Those arrested in raids in Landhi included Nadeem Qadri, member of sector committee, Landhi, and a worker, Asrarul Haq.

Police also besieged the ST headquarters in Chuna Bhatti since morning after the ST leaders gave an application to the Preedy police asking them to register FIRs against 16 members of the MQM including Home Minister Abdul Rauf Siddiqui for killings two of its workers.

The ST leaders contended that an FIR (117/05) against its leadership in Kharadar police station was registered with mala fide intention. They insisted on registering counter FIRs into the killings of its workers against the home minister and others.

The Sindh home secretary and other high-ranking police officers held negotiations with the ST leadership at the office of the home secretary, where it was decided that the ST would nominate workers of the MQM for killing its workers and setting ablaze its unit office.

They agreed to drop the name of the Home Minister Abdul Rauf Siddiqui from the FIRs. A police officer said that FIRs would be registered sometime late on Thursday night or early Friday morning.

The siege to the ST headquarters was finally ended after successful negotiations between the ST leadership and the government.

The funeral prayers of those killed in the morning were offered on Thursday night since the bodies had been kept at a morgue in protest. The deceased were later buried at a local graveyard.

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