KARACHI, March 14: An associate of Rehman Dakait was killed in a shootout between the police and gangsters in the Baghdadi area on Thursday afternoon.

“As there was already tension in the area on account of the strike call given by the Sunni Tehrik, extra police patrolling was taking place in the area. Meanwhile, a police mobile encountered a group of armed gangsters in a narrow street, Safi Lane. In return fire by one of the policeman, a gangster suffered two bullets in the head and torso respectively,” said DSP Pervez Iqbal.

The incident followed a heavy exchange of gunfire between the police and gangsters, who retrieved their injured associate Abdul Hakeem alias Haqul and managed to take him to the Civil Hospital Karachi, but he was pronounced dead on arrival by the doctors.

“They had used a fake name in the hospital and took away the body with them without the post-mortem examination,” the DSP said.

Police said the man’s burial took place on Friday night in a local graveyard. There were also reports that Jaingo – a ringleader of the gang – was also injured in the firing, but such reports proved incorrect, the DSP said.

Later, the gangsters came out on Shah Latif Bhittai Road and blocked the key road of the town by starting indiscriminate firing, which created panic in the locality and forced people to stay indoors. The gangsters also tried to block Sheedi Village Road and Hasht Chowk but fled as soon as the police arrived.

There has been a marked upsurge in the activities of criminals in Lyari Town after the Feb 18, 2008 elections, while police seem to be utterly unable to control the situation.

Meanwhile, the residents of Baghdadi and Shah Beg Lane areas have expressed concern over the “deteriorating crime situation” in their localities, saying that armed gangs roam the congested streets and snatch cellphones, wallets, and purses from people at will.

They said that relative calm prevailed in the locality after the elections, but the situation could not last as the criminals were now active again.