KARACHI: Four suspects were shot dead in three separate encounters in the Lyari and Bahadurabad areas during the Eid holidays, officials said on Thursday.

Police and Rangers carried out a targeted raid on an alleged hideout of some suspects on D.D. Chaudhry Road in Baghdadi in the early hours of Tuesday.

During an exchange of fire, two suspects were shot dead. They were identified as Rasheed, alias Kala, and Kaiser, alias Moota.

The police claimed that the dead belonged to the Wasi Lakho gang of Lyari. They were allegedly involved in 70 cases, including murders.

In another incident in Bihar Colony of the Chakiwara area, a suspect identified as Kashif, alias Maqsood, was gunned down in an alleged encounter on the same day. He was allegedly involved in 80 criminal cases. The killed man belonged to the Baba Ladla gang.

Separately, a suspect was shot dead during a robbery in Bahadurabad.

Police said the suspect was snatching valuables from a passer-by near Naheed Super Store when a police party spotted him.

In a bid to flee, the suspect fired at the police, but when the policemen returned fire, the suspect, identified as Abdul Latif, received wounds. Later, he died during treatment.

Shopkeeper killed in Lyari

A shopkeeper was shot dead in Lyari’s Chakiwara area.

Police said 55-year old Pervez Fazal was sitting at his shop on the Al-Falah Road in Bihar Colony when gunmen attacked and killed him. The police said he might have been targeted allegedly by members of the Baba Ladla gang over suspicion of being a police informer following the murder of Kashif alias Maqsood in the alleged encounter in the same locality.

MQM worker killed

A worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was shot dead on Tuesday in Al-Falah area.

Police said Ahsan Manzoor, 23, was sitting at Mohammed Ali Shaheed Chowk when gunmen attacked and killed him. The victim, who originally hailed from Punjab, was a member of MQM’s Mohajir Organizing Committee (MOC). The police chief suspended and reverted the Al-Falah SHO over his failure to control crime in his area.

Man killed in Liaquatabad

A man was shot dead while two others were hurt in Liaquatabad on Wednesday, according to police.

They said three men were shot at and wounded in Liaquatabad-5 near Sheesh Mahal.They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors pronounced Afaq Ishaq, 28, as dead while Mohammed Umer, 23, and Zakir, 30, were admitted for treatment.

The police claimed to have arrested one suspect identified as Sheera allegedly involved in the murder. They claimed that the incident was the outcome of a quarrel between the held suspect and brother of the victim in the area.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2014