KARACHI, June 29: The Pakistan Peoples Party’s Karachi chapter has accused the Rangers of killing an international Pakistani boxer from Lyari in a ‘fake encounter’ and termed it a new beginning of a series of ‘extrajudicial killings’ at the hands of the paramilitary force.

“Saqib was an international boxer who earned a lot of respect for his country,” said Karachi division PPP president Abdul Qadir Patel at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

“He was detained by the Rangers personnel near his house in Lyari’s Khadda neighbourhood on Friday for a while before being blindfolded and shot dead,” said Mr Patel accompanied by Senator Yousuf Baloch, Lyari MPA Javed Nagori and Mr Patel’s deputy in the party Habib Hasan.

He said the fact that Saqib was blindfolded when his body was found near his house “clearly shows that he was innocent and had nothing to do with any criminal activities”.

“It is nothing but acrimony on the part of the Rangers against the people of Lyari,” he said. “We don’t blame the entire force behind deliberately creating unrest in the city but there is a section in it, which has this agenda.”

Referring to the chief minister’s statement that he had no control over the Rangers’ operations, he said it showed his ‘helplessness’. He demanded that the federal government take cognizance of such incidents. “It is not the first incident of its kind. Three years ago an international footballer, Usman Baba, had been killed in the same manner, while the videotaped death of a teenager at the hands of some Rangers personnel is yet another example.”

He said such activities was “clearly aimed at” fomenting unrest in Karachi and could be a conspiracy against the elected government in Sindh enjoying a heavy mandate.

He demanded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan take notice of the incident and asked the director-general of Rangers to ensure no recurrence of such incidents in the future.Mohammad Iqbal, Saqib’s father, denied some media reports alleging that his son had been associated with Lyari gangs.

“He was a very good athlete who had nothing to do with criminal activities. He loved to fight in a ring and never exchanged blows outside,” he said, showing a dozen of medals that Saqib had won during his short career.

Ali Nawaz, Mr Iqbal’s younger brother, who played for Bury Football Club of Greater Manchester in English football league in the 1970s, said the incident had shocked the family. “We are a family of footballers, boxers and cyclists who have always striven for our country but such incidents can force us to take weapons in our hands instead of sporting props in future,” said Mr Nawaz while speaking to Dawn.