KARACHI, May 5: A young worker of the Sunni Tehreek was killed in Ranchhore Line on Thursday, and the incident triggered violence in the old city area, paralysing life in the immediate neighbourhoods and sowing fear among residents, police and party sources said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Sindh Rangers said the paramilitary force arrested one of the alleged miscreants, who was wounded in an exchange of fire with Rangers. Police sources said a passerby caught in the crossfire between the Rangers and the armed suspects was also wounded.

In the early morning incident, armed riders targeted 25-year-old Islamuddin in Naraain Pura of Ranchhore Line as he walked down the stairs of his home to get milk.

He was hit by two bullets each in the head and the chest and died on the spot while the attackers escaped.

“A few bullet shells of a 9mm pistol were found at the crime-scene,” said Inspector Raja Tanveer, the SHO of the Eidgah police station.

“The body was handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital Karachi. Tension gripped parts of the area after firing into the air but an enhanced movement and deployment of the police helped improve the situation.”

The Sunni Tehreek said the victim was its worker and had been targeted only for his political association.

The ST warned that it would launch a protest campaign if their demands were not heard and accepted by the authorities.

“Armed attacks on political workers have become a routine in this city, and unfortunately the frequent incidents have not made the authorities take effective measures,” said the ST spokesman.

The intense gunfire after the activist’s killing forced the traders to pull down shutters, and soon the densely populated locality, housing several commercials centres and facilities, became deserted.

However, the police said a patrol van of the Rangers came across the armed riders in Gosht Wali Gali near Wali Muhammad Compound and an exchange of fire between the two sides ensued.

“Armed rider Mahmood was wounded in the firing and a passerby, Sher Khan, also sustained a bullet wound. One of the two armed motorcyclists was arrested but his accomplice escaped amid the shootout,” said a police official.

Bandit killed by accomplice

In New Karachi, a suspected bandit was killed allegedly in the firing by his own accomplice while they were trying to rob a passerby of cash and valuables, police said.

They said three armed riders intercepted a passerby near Katchi Abadi in Bilal Colony and asked for the cash and valuables he carried. However, he refused to obey them that led to a scuffle.

“According to some witnesses, one of the armed men pulled out a pistol and fired shots into the air and one targeting the passerby, who was later identified as Zareef Khan,” said DSP Altaf Hussain, the area’s supervisory police officer (SPO).

“But that single gunshot hit his own accomplice in the neck. This panicked the armed men further and they rode away from the scene, leaving their accomplice in a pool of blood and apparently to die from the wound.”

He said the dead suspect was identified as Muhammad Yousuf, a resident of Baldia Town, but the investigators had not yet found any incriminating record against him.

“A pistol has been found in the suspect’s possession. An FIR (240/2011) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified suspects on a complaint of Zareef Khan,” added the area SPO.