December 03, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 4, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 2: The situation in the city returned to normality on Tuesday as no major untoward incident was reported in any locality.

All major shopping and commercial centres resumed their routine operations, although attendance in public and private offices was slightly thin.

A good number of public and private vehicles also appeared on the roads, which had remained deserted for the previous three days.

The city police chief, CCPO Waseem Ahmed, told Dawn that the tension and panic had subsided remarkably as community leaders visited the riot-hit localities for restoring peace and tranquility to the two communities.

“Not a single untoward incident has been reported across the city since 8am,” he said and added that all shops and petrol and CNG stations were open in the city.

The CCPO said an SP was additionally and separately posted to maintain law and order in the troubled Orangi Town and its adjoining localities, which are otherwise under the administrative control of the TPO of North Nazimabad. “Sufficient force from the Sindh Reserve Police has also been given in the control of the SP for effective policing,” he said.

The city police chief said the police had set up pickets and deployed additional police force in the affected areas.

He said that around 230 suspected miscreants had been arrested across the city during the past three days.

Meanwhile, two more people were killed in riot-related violence, taking the death toll to 42.

The Arambagh police said that a young man was found shot dead in the small hours of Tuesday near a confectionary outlet on M.A. Jinnah Road.

The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital, where sources said the victim, who appeared to be in his early 30s, received five bullets from a very close range as all the bullets went through his body.

The police said the victim was a vagabond rag-picker and was believed to have been shot while he was asleep on the pavement.

Besides, a young man, who was shot and wounded in an attack in a roadside restaurant in Baldia Town on Sunday night, died in the Civil Hospital.

Moreover, the police said unknown miscreants set ablaze seven pushcarts of fruit vendors at Malir Halt in the small hours.