KARACHI: A Rangers soldier was killed and his colleague was injured while two suspects were gunned down in a two-hour gun battle between the law enforcers and suspected gangsters in Lyari on Thursday morning, according to officials.

The Rangers and police jointly conducted a raid in Nawa Lane after receiving a tip-off about the presence of criminals wanted by the law, said Kalakot SHO Haji Sanaullah.

As the raid started at 6:45am, Rangers troops were fired upon by gangsters, killing soldier Syed Asgher Shah, 35, and injuring his colleague Abdul Raheem, 25, according to a Rangers spokesperson.

Later, the Rangers conducted a raid in Nawa Lane and, after an exchange of fire, Sarwar Baloch and Owais Baloch were killed, said the official.

A sub-machine gun, a 0.9mm pistol and two hand-grenades were found in their possession, claimed the official.

The Kalakot police official said the exchange of fire with criminals took place in streets 9, 11, and 13 of Nawa Lane and continued for over two hours.

He claimed that Sarwar Razzak alias Bara Sarwar was the ‘main commander’ of Uzair Baloch group in the area and the government had announced Rs1million head money for his arrest.

He said that Owais was also wanted in murder cases and he was a main character in the ‘Farooq alias Maya group’ in the area. Some arrests had also been made during the raid and the Rangers took the suspects away, he said.

The victim, Syed Asghar Shah, father of a child hailed from Multan where his coffin was taken for burial. The wounded man was shifted to a private hospital for treatment.

Teacher killed in crossfire

A teacher was caught in the crossfire between two gangs in Garden on Thursday and was killed, Soldier Bazaar police said.

They added that as soon as Mohammed Murtaza, 28, came out of a school on the Nishter Road, a stray bullet hit him. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors declared him as dead on arrival.

Rickshaw driver killed by ‘gangsters’

A young man whose brother was gunned down around two months ago was killed in Sharafi Goth apparently by gangs linked to Lyari.

Police said that as rickshaw driver, Javed Saleem, 30, was returning after dropping passengers in Pir Bux Goth, some gunmen chased and targeted him. Javed sustained critical wounds and was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The victim’s family lived in Lyari but recently shifted to the Malir area after receiving threats from the gang led by Uzair Baloch, said Landhi SP Akhtar Farooq.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014