October 10, 2008	Friday	Shawwal 10, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 9: Three people were killed on Thursday in acts of violence in different parts of the city, police and witnesses said.

A passer-by was killed and another injured in a firing incident near Regal Chowk in Saddar.

The Preedy police told Dawn that Mohammed Ali, a rent-a-car dealer, reported to the police that three workers of the Pakistan People’s Party, riding in a black Pajero jeep, opened fire on his Alto car near Singer Chowrangi.

The complainant stated that he had a monetary dispute with Hammad, Faisal and Fawwad, who had attacked him with firearms.

Witnesses said that the people ran for shelter when the occupants of the Pajero opened fire on the Alto car.

They said the driver of the Alto sped up, but the attackers continued firing till Regal Chowk where two passers-by were shot and wounded, one of them fatally who died on his way to the Civil Hospital.

The dead man was identified as Afzal Ahmed, 50, a resident of Korangi, and the injured man as Mohammed Naeem, a 35-year-old employee of the Pakistan Steel Mills.

Sources at the Civil Hospital’s medico-legal section told Dawn that victim Afzal had received a fatal bullet wound in his chest, while Naeem sustained two bullets wounds, one in his left leg and the other in his lower ribcage.

The police said Afzal ran a stall of purse and wallets in Korangi. They said the victim had come to Karim Centre in Saddar for shopping.

The police said injured Naeem had come to Saddar to buy a ceiling fan.

The police said a case would be lodged by complainant Mohammed Ali against Hammad and his two associates.

They said Hammad also reported to the police that he was shot at and injured by Mohammed Ali.

The police said Hammad came to the police station with a wound in his arm and he was referred to the Civil Hospital for a medico-legal examination.

Area DSP, Salman Ahmed, told Dawn that both Mohammed Ali and Hammad claimed to be PPP workers.

Rickshaw driver shot dead

A 24-year-old rickshaw driver was found shot dead in his vehicle near Sakhi Hasan Chowrangi.

The Sharah-i-Noorjahan police said that the victim, Ashfaq Abbasi, son of Akhtar Abbasi, was a resident of Korangi and his body was found in his rickshaw at around 6am.

A case (FIR 412/2008) was registered against unknown culprits under Sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s father.

The police said that the incident seemed to be motivated by a personal enmity.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where sources said the victim received a single, but fatal, bullet wound in the left side of his ribcage.

Driver shot dead

A 32-year-old man was shot dead in Pak Colony.

The police said that the victim, Zarif Khan, was a tanker driver and was killed by unknown gunmen at a workshop where he had taken his vehicle for repairs. They said the victim, father of two minors, hailed from Khuzdar.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where sources at the medico-legal section told Dawn that the victim had received two bullet wounds, one to the head and the other to the chest, from a point-blank range as both the bullets went through his skull and upper torso.

The police said that the incident seemed to be motivated by a personal enmity.

A case (FIR 169/08) against unknown culprits was registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the PPC.

Dacoit killed

A suspected dacoit was killed and his alleged accomplice critically wounded in a shootout with the police in Soldier Bazaar.

The police said two cashiers of a money exchange firm on a motorcycle, guarded by two security guards on another motorcycle, were going to deliver Rs1 million to the firm’s outlet at Hyderi Market when two dacoits intercepted them near Albaila Signal and opened fire on the security guards.

They said the dacoits snatched the cash from the cashiers after shooting the security guards, and tried to flee the scene on their Honda 125cc.

The police said the shooting attracted the attention of two policemen who were patrolling the area on motorcycle.

They said that one of the dacoits was killed instantly and the other received critical bullet wounds in the shootout with the police.

The body, the injured suspected dacoit and two security guards were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Sources at the medico-legal section of the hospital told Dawn that the dead dacoit received three bullets in his upper torso.

They said the other suspect was in a highly critical condition as he had received life-threatening injuries.

The hospital sources said that one of the injured guards was also in an unstable condition.

The SP of Jamshed Town, Javed Akbar Riyaz, told Dawn that the police had seized the looted money and two pistols from the suspects.