KARACHI, Dec 21: Violence erupted following the killing of a local leader of the Awami National Party in the Saddar area in which a passer-by was killed and a suspected attacker was also shot dead inside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Friday, police said.

They said that during the evening rush hour, assailants riding a motorbike emerged at a teashop near Peshawari Ice Cream in Bohri Bazaar where ANP leader Ramzan Kakar was sitting with his associates. The assailants fired shots at Mr Kakar and tried to escape.

However, the ANP leader’s associates returned fire and bullets hit one of the assailants who fell down from the bike, they added.

Two passers-by were also wounded in the firing and taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment. However, Mr Kakar died before he could be taken to hospital, the police said, adding that the body and the wounded suspect were shifted to the JPMC for medico-legal formalities and treatment.

The victim was a brother of Abdul Bari Kakar who is a senior member of the ANP and also chairman of the All Empress Market Association.

As the news of the ANP leader’s killing spread, the entire Saddar area reverberated with heavy gunfire and commercial and business concerns shut down within minutes. The firing was so intense that people ran for cover.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Qasim and Police Constable Tariq Shafiq suffered gunshot wounds near the Empress Market when a police contingent reached the area to control the situation. The wounded policemen were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment.

A passer-by was also wounded in the firing and was rushed to the Civil Hospital. He died during treatment late in the night. He was identified as Imdad, 30, said a spokesman for the Sindh Police.

Fear and panic gripped the JPMC when a large number of ANP workers reached there and fired into the air. People present at the hospital ran for cover amid firing. A man present in the hospital suffered a gunshot wound.

Police and hospital sources said that the suspected attacker, identified as Abdul Rehman, had been brought to the JPMC’s emergency and accident department with a relatively minor gunshot wound. However, some suspects entered the emergency ward and shot him dead on the hospital bed, said the sources.

Paramedic staff and doctors at the JPMC were also forced to take cover in the firing and, according to Dr Simeen Jamali, the official in charge of the emergency and accident department, they had abandoned the hospital.

She said that a man, identified as Habib, was said to be in a critical condition and admitted in the neurological ward of the JPMC.

“He suffered a gunshot wound in the head during firing in the hospital and is critical.”

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers reached the hospital and it was after their arrival that peace was restored and doctors and paramedical staff resumed their duties.

“We have arrested a man who had carried out firing in the hospital and killed the reported attacker,” DIG-South Asif Ajaz Shaikh said, adding that the police recovered two AK-47 assault rifles from his possession.

The police collected 17 spent bullet casings of an AK-47 rifle from the emergency ward of the JPMC.

Man shot dead in Baldia Town

A man was shot dead in Baldia Town on Friday evening, police said. They said that Muhammad Hanif, 22, was waiting for a bus at a bus stop in Baldia Town No 7 near the route G-3 bus terminus when he was targeted by two armed men riding a motorcycle.

The assailants fled following the shooting.

The victim died on his way to the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The police were not clear about the motive for the killing.

Trader killed in Orangi

KARACHI, Dec 21: An office-bearer of a local market association in Orangi Town was shot dead on Friday, police said.

Tension gripped the locality following the shooting within the remit of the Pakistan Bazaar police station.

The police said that Abdul Razzaq, 55, was returning home after Friday prayers when armed men riding a motorbike shot at him in Gulshan-i-Bihar, Orangi Town, Sector 16.

The victim was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Following the medico-legal formalities, the police handed over the body to the victim’s family.

The victim was father of three and a Gulshan-i-Bihar resident, the police said, adding that he had a gift shop in the local market and was general secretary of the area market association.

However, the police said, the motive for the killing had not been ascertained.

Missing teenager found shot dead

A resident of Martin Quarters, who had gone missing on Dec 9, was found shot dead near the Aga Khan Jamaat Khana in Garden area on Friday, police said.

The shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi where the victim was identified as Nabeel Rehman, 18.

The police said that the victim’s family had lodged a report about his disappearance with the Jamshed Quarters police station.

However, a few days later, he told the family over phone that he was in Multan, the police said. They quoted the family as saying that they had no further contact with him afterwards.

It seemed that the victim was kidnapped and later shot dead, said a police investigator. However, he added, the motive for the killing was yet to be ascertained.

Policeman dies

A police constable, who had been shot at and wounded by bandits near the Frere police lines, died on Friday at a hospital during treatment.

Constable Noorul Amin, 30, had sustained gunshot wounds while trying to overpower one of the three bandits who had been depriving women of their cash and valuables.

Posted in the CID Civil Lines, the victim was a resident of Frere police lines.