KARACHI, May 23: A boy was shot dead, and the DIG Karachi Operations and nine other people were wounded on Friday in a clash between two religious groups over a mosque in New Karachi.

According to police and the witnesses, the clash began when people coming out of Rahmania Mosque in sector 11-G after Juma prayers were fired upon by two men riding a motorcycle

A 13-year-old boy, later identified as Farhan Rafiq, died on the spot. Some others were wounded. Later, more people suffered bullet wounds in the subsequent armed clash between the two groups.

The wounded, who were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, were identified as Mohammad Sabir, Mohammad Yasin, Mohammad Saleem, Sadiq Siddique, Abdul Ghaffar, Abdul Rahim, Arif, Abdul Karim and Ghulam Rahim.

Police reached the spot to control the situation and resorted to baton-charge and teargas shelling. The police action could not control the clash which spread into narrow streets and onto the main road of New Karachi. Some agitating youths set fire to a minibus and a motorcycle. They also attacked a medical store in the same locality and set it on fire.

High police officials, including DIG Karachi Operations, Tariq Jamil, also reached the spot. Police sources said that the DIG came under armed attack when he tried to approach some local leaders. He suffered two bullets on his both legs.

He was rushed to a private hospital in North Nazimabad where the doctors said one bullet had travelled out and the other was stuck. He was operated upon and his condition is stated to be out of danger.

Police said a dispute had been on for the past many months over the possession of Rehmania Mosque between Tehrik Ahl-i-Hadith and Sunni Tehrik.

There is a Madressah across the road some 500 yards from the mosque in sector 11-F in New Karachi. It belongs to Sunni Tehrik.

Police said the mosque was under the administrative control of Tehrik Ahl-i-Hadith, but the Sunni Tehrik tried to take control of the mosque’s affairs, which led to the clash.

Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces were deployed in the troubled area and the law and order situation was brought under control by evening.

The law enforcement agencies have been patrolling the streets but the situation remained tens till late night.

Tehrik Ahl-i-Hadith in its press release here on Friday demanded the arrest of the attackers on Rahmania Mosque in the next 24 hours.

Chairman of the Tehrik, Allama Abdullah Ghazi, said that at an attempt to kill the prayer leader of the mosque was foiled a week ago, but police had not yet arrested any suspect. “Instead, the criminals are being provided protection,” he alleged.

A leader of the Sunni Tehrik, Maulana Akram Qadri, told Dawn over telephone that some armed men belonging to a banned militant group attacked the mosque and killed a worker of Sunni Tehrik.

He demanded of the government to arrest the killers and attackers without any delay. He also demanded of the government to seal the mosque. He contended that the affairs of the mosque were being run by a group which had no majority in the area.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar and Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad have expressed sorrow over the incident. They directed the police to arrest those responsible for the incident so that legal action could be initiated against them.