KARACHI, Feb 1: A young activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was gunned in the Garden area in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.

They said the victim, identified as Junaid Qureshi in his mid-20s, was attacked outside his home, where he was sitting with friends.

“The victim lived in the Ramsawami Ratanjee compound and used to sit with friends till late in the night just outside the compound,” said an official at the Garden police station. “As the friends were chatting, two men on a motorbike emerged there and one of them fired multiple shots targeting Junaid.”

He sustained three bullet wounds and died on the spot, said the official, adding that the attackers escaped after the shooting, leaving the victim in a pool of blood and his friend in shock.

Though the police showed unawareness about the culprits and the motive behind the killing, investigators confirmed that the victim was an MQM activist associated with Unit-27 of the party organisational structure in the area.

“The body was handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital Karachi. We have registered a case (FIR 34/2011) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified suspects on a complaint of the victim’s father, Hanif Qureshi,” added the official.

Man killed in shootout

In an early morning shootout in the old city area between police and armed men, a suspected bandit was gunned down on Tuesday and two others arrested, officials said.

They said the Mithadar police deployed two mobile vans on Mumtaz Hussain Road near MTR Colony after being tipped off that a large quantity of stolen wire was being taken away in a car.

“The suspicious car was spotted on the road and signalled to stop,” said an official at the Mithadar police station. “Instead, the people in the car fired at the police party and multiple shots hit the two mobile vans. An exchange of fire ensued between the two sides.”

The retaliatory firing from the police hit the tyres of the car, said the official, adding that the police seized three armed suspects, including an injured one, from the vehicle.

“The injured was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where he died during treatment. He was identified as Zahir Khan, a resident of a Keamari locality, who was released from the central prison only a couple of weeks ago,” said the official.

The arrested suspects were identified as Abdullah alias Akbar and Sajid. Two pistols were also recovered from them. Four rolls of stolen electric wire were also found in the car, added the official.