KARACHI, Nov 28: A young activist of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) was gunned down near Liaquatabad and the body of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker was found stuffed in a gunny bag in the Pak Colony area on Sunday, police and party sources said.

They said 22-year-old Abdul Rahman Bandhani was shot a single bullet by a lone man inside the Maweshi Mandi within the remit of the Sharifabad police station.

“The victim was a cattle trader and used to sell goats every Sunday at the same place,” said Sub-Inspector Iqbal Sheikh, the SHO of the Sharifabad police station.

“He was standing along the road with his goats when an armed man on a motorbike stopped by and fired a single shot that hit him in the head, killing him on the spot,” the police officer said.

The attacker escaped. The body was later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities, he added.

The spokesman for the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, formerly known as the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, which was banned by the government, claimed that the victim was a worker of their party.

“He became the fresh victim of the targeted killing of our workers as only in November we have lost three workers in different parts of the city,” he said.

However, the police said they were not sure that the victim had been killed for his association with the group.

“Initial findings also suggest that the victim had a monetary dispute with someone for the last many months,” said the SHO.

“It’s not yet clear what was the motive behind the murder, but the way he was killed suggests that the killing was a result of personal enmity.”

Body in gunny bag

The body of a young man, later identified as a worker of the MQM, bearing multiple wounds and torture marks was found stuffed in a gunny bag within remit of the Pak Colony police station on Sunday, police said.

They said the body was found in Mianwali Colony near Dhobi Ghat after it was spotted by area people early in the morning.

“The body was stuffed in the gunny bag and the victim was later identified as 24-year-old Rehan, a worker of the MQM,” said an official at the Pak Colony police station.

“He was a resident of Ramaswami area and had gone missing in Lyari a few days ago. His family denies his enmity with anyone.”

The body was later shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities, where doctors said the victim had been badly tortured before being hit by three bullets fired from a very close range.