KARACHI: At least five people, including two lawyers associated with a political party, were shot dead and three others wounded in targeted attacks in different parts of the city on Friday, leaving members of the legal fraternity and political parties aghast just a day before the major parties will take part in a peace walk.
Fifty-year-old Fahim Riaz Siddiqi and 45-year-old Saleem Bhatti, both associated with the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), were returning home in a car from work a little after 8pm when they were attacked on a road linking Abyssinia Line with Sharea Faisal near the FTC flyover, police said.
While the police said they had not found any eyewitness who could share information about the deadly assault, they believed the job was executed by armed men riding a motorbike as was seen in most targeted killings.
“The car (Z-9053) came under intense firing as it was about to appear on Sharea Faisal and went out of the driver’s control,” said a senior police official.
Subsequently, the car hit a bicycle before ramming into a pillar of the flyover, he said, adding that two young riders sustained injuries in the accident.
The attackers appeared to be waiting for the lawyers under the bridge which usually remained dark at night, the official said. However, he added, the police could not find any eyewitness who could tell about the number of attackers and their appearance.
The firing was so intense that it left both lawyers dead on the spot, the police said. The bodies were later shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
The investigators said the attackers used 9mm pistol and targeted faces and heads of the two victims.
Mr Siddiqi, a resident of Liaquat Square in Malir, was the chief organiser of the PML(N) Lawyers Forum in Sindh and Mr Bhatti, a resident of PECHS, was vice president of the same body.
“It’s an irreparable loss, as the attackers deprived us of the two competent lawyers and true democratic political workers,” said Arshad Jadoon, the central organising secretary of the PML (N) Lawyers Forum.
“Our colleagues were targeted for their struggle for a fearless society and to harass the legal fraternity, which wants justice to prevail.”
Meanwhile, the Karachi Bar Association and Sindh Bar Council announced a boycott of court proceedings on Saturday. Both bodies also announced that they would stage protest demonstrations in lower courts against the targeted killing of lawyers.
Attacks on tea shops
In the early hours of Friday, gun attacks on two roadside tea shops within a span of 10 minutes in New Karachi left three people dead, police said.
The officials suspected the involvement of same attackers in firing on both the tea shops.
The first incident was witnessed near Shabbir Chowk where armed men riding a motorbike pulled up and opened fire on the restaurant before speeding away, the police said. “The firing on Quetta Hotel left two waiters, Saeed and Akhlaq, dead,” said New Karachi Industrial Area SHO Inspector Rashid Khan.
He added that both the victims hailed from Quetta. Only 10 minutes later another restaurant in the vicinity was attacked, leaving another young man dead, the inspector said. He said the victim was later identified as Subhan, who belonged to the Pishin district of Balochistan.
The bodies were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and handed over to the families after medico-legal formalities.
“We are not sure but suspect that the same riders were involved in the two attacks,” the inspector said.
Attack on bus
Another attack on a bus was witnessed on Friday evening in Orangi Town — a constant feature in the recent wave of violence — sowing fear among the commuters who travel by buses.
The previous night attack on a minibus in New Karachi had left a 28-year-old passenger dead and three others wounded, according to the police.
“Three people were wounded inside the coach of route ‘N’ when it came under firing near Metro Cinema in Orangi Town,” said an official at the Peerabad police station.
All the three wounded victims were shifted to Qatar Hospital, where two of them were identified as Ahmed Qureshi and Mairaj.
Bodies found
Earlier in the morning, the body of a young man was found in Khajji Ground, the area police said.
An official at the Rizia police station said the victim, identified as Imran Khan, was an area resident and had been missing since Thursday night.
“According to his family, the victim worked at a boutique in a shopping mall on Tariq Road. He returned home from work and went to see a friend after dinner on Thursday night but did not return,” the official said.
Another body was found in a playground in Punjab Colony near Gizri, the police said.
The victim was identified as Fahim-ul-Haq alias Moon, a resident of the Gizri area. He was hit by a single bullet in the head.
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