KARACHI: A Peoples Party activist was shot dead in Madhu Goth near Nipa Chowrangi on Saturday.

The killing of Abdul Qadir Baloch sparked protests on the University Road where people burnt tyres and pelted vehicles with stones, disrupting traffic.

“Mr Baloch was sitting at a paan shop when he was fired at by gunmen on a motorcycle,” said an official of the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station. “He received two bullets and died on the spot.”

Mr Baloch was an employee of the University of Karachi and a well-known person in the area.

His killing triggered protest by the area people, who burnt tyres on the University Road. The situation forced police to divert vehicles to alternative routes.

A spokesman for the PPP’s Karachi chapter condemned the incident and said the victim was an active worker of the party, associated with the PS-126 unit of its organisational structure.

“At a time when the PPP leadership is trying to revive peace in Karachi, miscreants are targeting its workers to provoke the ruling party and exploit the situation,” he said.

In another incident, a young man was killed in Manghopir area, apparently on sectarian grounds.

Police said Rahmat Ali was attacked near his house in Yaqoob Basti. He was sitting with friends when two armed men on a motorcycle opened fire at him.

The body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for post mortem.

A police official said investigation was at early stage but apparently the incident seemed to be linked to the recent wave of killings on sectarian grounds.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2014