KARACHI, Oct 31: Two more policemen were shot dead in the city on Wednesday, police said.

They said that armed riders targeted 42-year-old Assistant Sub-Inspector Rafiq Khaskheli when he was passing through the main market of the rural suburbs of the city.

Clad in shalwar-kameez, the ASI suffered a single bullet wound in the head and died while being shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

“According to witnesses, two men on a motorbike intercepted him in a service lane along the main market of the area,” said the station investigation officer, Haroon-ur-Rasheed.

“He was hit by a bullet in the head that proved fatal. He was associated with the investigation arm of the Murad Memon Goth police station. He was quite active in taking action against area criminals.”

He said he had little doubt that criminal gangs mainly involved in drug trafficking and extortion were responsible for the murder.

The victim was a resident of Jam Kando Goth in Malir and father of five.

Earlier in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, a constable of the CID police was killed while resisting a robbery bid.

Police said that 40-year-old CID constable Saeed Mansoori was also associated with a private school in Gulistan-i-Jauhar Block 15 as a physical trainer. He was about to leave the school when he saw two armed motorcyclists attempting to rob a woman on the road.

“The constable along with a school watchman, Mumtaz Ali, challenged the armed bandits,” said DSP Shakil Awan.

“After a brief scuffle, one of the two bandits fired shots and the constable and watchman suffered bullet wounds. They were shifted to a nearby private hospital where the constable died.”

He said that the victim was a resident of North Karachi’s Sector-3 and had been associated with the anti-extremist cell of the CID police since 2009.

A total of 80 policemen have been killed in the city this year. Nineteen of them were targeted in October 2012.

Woman killed in attack on house

An elderly woman was killed and her daughter and two grandsons were injured in an armed attack on her house in Ittehad Town on Wednesday, police said.

They said that two neighbouring families had developed a dispute last week near Jhangwi Chowk in Ittehad Town that turned ugly on Wednesday evening when members of one of the families fired shots at the other one.

“The two families belong to the Mehsud and Afridi tribes,” said Inspector Imtiaz Mir Jatt, the SHO of the Mockho police station.

“The male members of the Mehsud family with some of their aides stormed Allah Khan Afridi’s home and fired shots indiscriminately. There were only women and children and the firing killed Allah Khan’s 65-year-old mother Zul Farosh and left her daughter Asna Bibi and her two sons eight-year-old Ashfaq and 10-year-old Shahid wounded. The attackers ran away after the firing.”

He said that the police after initial investigations raided multiple places and arrested two suspects — Khalid and Abdullah.

“The nature of dispute is not yet clear but we have identified the attackers and will arrest them very soon,” added the area SHO.

Young man shot dead

A young man was shot dead under mysterious circumstances in North Nazimabad on Wednesday, police said.

They said that 37-year-old Shabbir Saifuddin was riding a motorbike as a pillion rider with his friend Ali Asghar, who found the former wounded when they reached near Five Star Chowrangi.

“The victim was coming from UP Mor with his friend sitting on the rear seat of the motorbike,” said North Nazimabad SP Latif Siddiqi. “When they reached near Five Star Chowrangi, Ali Asghar found his friend falling on him unconsciously. He stopped the bike and found his head oozing blood.”

Saifuddin was brought to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Doctors said a single bullet hit the victim in the head.

The killing sounded suspicious to the police investigators, who remained clueless about the incident.

“We don’t know exactly what had really happened. His friend is the only eyewitness to the incident who said he did not see any attacker neither did he hear a gunshot. The victim was a resident of North Nazimabad’s Bock C. We are still in the process of collect information before reaching any conclusion,” added the area SP.

Boy found strangulated

The body of an unidentified boy, aged between 10 and 12 years, was found in the bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Wednesday, officials said.

They said that a police patrol was informed about the body.

“The boy was dressed in shalwar-kameez,” said an official at the Sharea Faisal police station. “There were visible wounds on the body, which was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.”

He said that apparently the boy was strangulated, but the exact cause of death could only be known in a couple of days in the final report of the post-mortem examination.

“The body was moved to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for a want of identification. We are tracing the family links of the victim before lodging an FIR,” added the official.