KARACHI, May 4: An activist of Pakistan People’s Party was killed on Wednesday in intense firing during an armed clash between two groups during a football match.

Police said fear and tension gripped the trans-Lyari area after the clash in Pak Colony, suspending life in the neighbourhood.

They said some youngsters playing the match in Pak Colony had become engaged in a heated debate over a dispute that led to a scuffle and finally an exchange of gunfire, killing a man said to be in his early 20s. He was identified as 28-year-old Asif Baloch.

“One of the teams playing the match was backed by some known gangsters of Lyari,” said SSP Naveed Khawaja of the Liaquatabad Town. “The dispute turned violent because of the involvement of criminals.”

The intense firing in the area forced traders to pull down shutters, causing panic in the densely-populated area. Vehicles which were passing through the one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city disappeared gradually. However, police intervened on time and arrested some suspects.

“We have arrested some six to seven suspects and seized arms from them. They were firing after the incident in the playground,” said the SSP Liaquatabad Town, adding that investigators were hopeful about reaching the key suspects after initial findings.

Earlier, police found the body of a young man with five bullet wounds and severe torture marks in the same area. They said the victim, in his late 20s, was found shot dead in the Old Golimar area.“He was killed hardly an hour before we found his body,” said Inspector Malik Ayub, the SHO of the Pak Colony police station. “A few cases of spent bullets were also found at the crime-scene. The hands of the victim were tied with a piece of rope.”

He said the body was shifted to the Edhi morgue after carrying out medico legal formalities at the Civil Hospital Karachi. Later, a PPP spokesman said the victim was a PPP activist and associated with the PS-92 in UC-2 of the organizational structure.

“The victim was the father of two and fell prey to the ongoing series of killing of our workers on political grounds,” said Sohail Abidi, the deputy information secretary of the PPP Karachi division.

In Surjani Town, a young man was gunned down who, according to the police, was associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

They said the armed riders targeted 24-year-old Muhammad Arif outside a decoration shop in Sector 5-D.