KARACHI: Two alleged gangsters were shot dead in what police described as gang warfare in Old Golimar late on Tuesday night.

The Pak Colony police said that two men were shot at and critically wounded in ‘Ghas Wali Gali’ of Old Golimar.

They were taken to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival. The deceased were identified as Shaikh Saad, 27, and Ali Asghar, 22.

Area SHO Amir Altaf told Dawn on Wednesday that the deceased belonged to the Jeewa Group.

The officer said that the bloody clash had been going on between the Jeewa and the Sajid groups. There were allegations that Jeewa’s brother, Shan, was gunned down by members linked with the Sajid group in the recent past, which intensified tension between them.

Sajid is a brother-in-law of Rehman Dakait, one of the slain leaders of Lyari gang warfare, revealed the officer. Sajid had reportedly fled the area after the Rangers-led operation in 2013.

The SHO said that last year members of the Sajid group had ‘expelled’ the Jeewa group from the Old Golimar area. Jeewa basically led his gang in Old Subzi Mandi area. Both the groups were involved in kidnapping for ransom, drug sale, etc.

The officer said that they had reports that the Jeewa group was trying to make an ‘entry’ into the Old Golimar area.

Mr Altaf believed that the deceased were on their reconnaissance mission in Old Golimar when they were spotted and gunned down by their ‘rival’ gang members.

However, he added that so far, no case had been registered against anyone.

He admitted that the police were trying to obtain alleged criminal records of the deceased.

He claimed that the relatives had told the police that both the deceased were involved in drug trafficking and were in ‘bad company’.

Meanwhile, the city police chief, Additional IG of Karachi Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh took notice of the killing of the two men in Old Golimar and sought a detailed inquiry report from SSP-West Shoukat Ali, said a police spokesperson.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2019