KARACHI: Three young men were shot dead in the militant-infested Ittehad Town area on Wednesday evening, officials said.

They said that four men were sitting at a public call office at the Khyber Chowk when armed men emerged there, fired indiscriminately and fled.

The wounded were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors pronounced three of them dead. They were identified as Shahid, the PCO owner, and his friends Khalil and Ramzan. The fourth man, Jehangir, was admitted for treatment.

SSP-West Irfan Baloch said it appeared that the incident was an outcome of some enmity between people of the Afridi and Mehsud tribes settled in the area. However, Ittehad Town SHO Rana Maqsood said Shahid had opened a ‘mini-cinema’ in the area last year and this was opposed by the Mehsuds. Last year, a cracker was also thrown there and one person was killed and another wounded in the attack. Since then, Shahid had shifted his business to Khyber Chowk, where he was attacked on Wednesday, he added.

Suspected mugger killed in encounter

A suspect was shot dead in an encounter in Surjani Town on Wednesday, police said.

They added that three armed men were looting passers-by in Khuda Ki Basti when a police patrol reached there. On seeing the police, the suspects opened fire and in ‘retaliatory firing’ one of them, later identified as Ashfaq Ahmed, 22, was wounded. His accomplices escaped on a motorbike.

The wounded was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

The police claimed to have found a TT pistol in his possession.

Published in Dawn, July 24th , 2014