December 05, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 6, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 4: Panic and tension gripped a neighbourhood of mafia-infested Lyari on Thursday after an exchange of heavy gunfire between rival gangs, which left a vagabond addict dead.

The situation in and around Shah Baig Lane and Eido Lane turned violent on Wednesday afternoon when heavily armed rival gangsters tried to wrest control of Ali Mohammed Mohalla.

Traffic disappeared from the streets and shopkeepers pulled down the shutters as the vicinity echoed with heavy gunfire.

The SP of Lyari, Raja Umer Khattab, told Dawn that a heavy contingent of police reached the spot and flushed out the battling gangsters from the area after a shootout.

He said parts of the vicinity in the Baghdadi police area reverberated with heavy gunfire at around 7am after the body of a resident of Baghdadi, who was found shot dead in the Eidgah police area, was brought to the area.

“A vagabond heroin addict was killed in the gangsters’ crossfire,” he said.

The SP said the police and Rangers rushed to the troubled area and controlled the situation.

Prayer leader shot dead

A 28-year-old man was shot dead in a minibus in Chakiwara.

The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital, where the victim was identified as Qari Asad Ullah, son of Saib Khan, a resident of Sakran, Balochistan.

The police said the victim was coming from Hub in a minibus. They said a young man, who appeared to be in his early 20s, boarded the bus at Shershah and sat on a seat behind the victim.

The police said the attacker fired a single shot when the minibus reached Chakiwara and swiftly got down the vehicle.

They said the victim was a prayer leader at a mosque in Hub and belonged to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.

The police registered a case (FIR 287/2008) under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code against the unknown culprit on the complaint of the victim’s paternal cousin, Ghulam Nabi.

Rickshaw driver

The trussed-up and bullet-riddled body of a 45-year-old rickshaw driver was found in his vehicle near Maqbool Masjid in the Eidgah area.

The police said the body was spotted in the small hours of Thursday and it was taken to the Civil Hospital, where he was identified as Faqeer Mohammed, son of Mohammed Ramazan, a resident of Baghdadi. He had been missing since Wednesday night.

Sources at the hospital’s medico-legal section told Dawn that the victim’s hands and feet were tied and he had received multiple bullet wounds from a close range.

Heavy firing started in the vicinity when the body was brought to the victim’s home near Shah Baig Lane.

The police said the victim’s son was a member of the Ghaffar Zikri gang.

No case had been registered till late.

Bandit beaten to death

A suspected bandit, who along with his two accomplices was on the run after killing a man, was caught and beaten to death by a mob in Landhi.

The police said three robbers barged into the house of Kamal Ahmed in Majeed Colony a little after noon and held the inmates hostage at gunpoint.

They said Mr Ahmed’s son, Shamshad Ahmed, was shot and wounded by the bandits when he struggled with them.

The police said the victim’s neighbour, Raju, son of Alauddin, 23, came out of his home when he heard a gunshot and tried to intercept the fleeing bandits.

They said the fleeing dacoits opened fire, killing the victim instantly. He received a fatal bullet wound to the neck.

The police said that one of the suspects was caught by people who gave him a hiding. They said a police party arrived there and rescued the suspect.

The police said the suspect was immediately taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he died.

Sources at the hospital’s medico-legal section told Dawn that the suspect, who appeared to be in his mid-20s, received multiple fractures all over the body and fatal wounds to the head.

The suspect remained unidentified and his body was kept at the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth.

Suspect killed

A suspected dacoit was killed in a shootout with police in Lyari.

The police said three dacoits, riding in a Suzuki pickup, waylaid a man, Shiraz, in Kalakot and deprived him of his cellular phone and Rs5,280 at gunpoint.

They said the victim approached a passing-by police patrol and told them about the robbery.

The police said the police party chased the bandits who opened fire on them. They said the police also returned fire and one of the bandits was killed in the shootout.

The police said two bandits fled the scene under cover of fire.

The suspect was identified as Saleh Mohammed, son of Rahim Mohammed Soomro, a resident of Thatta.