KARACHI, Jan 12: Many areas of Lyari remained tense on Monday following the killing of a central leader of the Pakistan People's Party (Shaheed Bhutto) late on Sunday night.

Shops and markets remained closed to mourn the death of Ali Sonara and his associate Samad. Ali Mohammad Sonara, 45, and his associate were killed while two others were injured when unknown armed motorcyclists sprayed them with bullets in Kharadar.

Tensions gripped Amil Gali and its adjoining areas following the incident. People gathered at different points and raised slogans against the government. Residents said that gunshots were also heard with some intervals. Heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed to maintain law and order in the troubled area.

Police said that Ali Sonara along with Abdul Samad, 22, Mohammad Aslam, 35, and Mohammad Younis, 38, were sitting at a place in Amil Gali near Kakri ground when they were attacked. All the injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital where Sonara and Samad were pronounced dead, while Aslam and Younis were admitted for treatment. The news about the attack on Sonara spread like a wildfire and people in groups began to reach Civil Hospital soon after midnight. Police authorities called reinforcement from eight police stations to Civil Hospital. People, who assembled outside the emergency ward and the mortuary, were baton-charged.

It may be recalled here that Ali Sonara was first arrested on Sept 17, 1996, by Inspector Zeeshan Kazmi. The arrest of Ali Sonara disturbed Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who visited various police stations to locate him. Three days after the arrest of Sonara, Murtaza Bhutto was assassinated along with his six colleagues in, what police claimed, an encounter near 70-Clifton on Sept 20, 1996. Later, Inspector Kazmi was shot also dead and his body was found from a gunny bag in Ferozabad on Oct 15.

Police said that Sonara was facing 13 trials in criminal cases, including that of the murder case of a judge Nabi Sher Junejo. He was twice arrested for bombing in early 1990's in Karachi. He remained in jail forseven years. However, he was granted bail in all cases and was released in June 2003.

After about seven months of his release, he was shot dead by unknown men in Kharadar. Sonara has left behind a wife, a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. He was buried in a local graveyard on Monday.Kharadar police registered an FIR (05/2004) on the complaint of Afaq Ahmed, one of the two injured. A police official said nobody had claimed responsibility for killing Sonara so far. SSP Investigation Manzoor Mughal said, "We are investigating the case from various angles and have not found any clue to the killers as yet."