KARACHI, Aug 27: A former bodyguard of Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi) chief Afaq Ahmed and two workers of the Pakistan People’s Party were among the eight people killed in the unabated city violence on Monday.

Police said the MQM-H’s Mohammad Rehan, 35, was sitting near the eatery called Baakra Hotel in Kharadar on Monday night when assailants opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.

Another person, later identified as Umar Gul, was also killed in the firing. A third man was wounded in the same attack.

All the victims were rushed to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where both men were pronounced dead on arrival while the third victim was admitted for treatment, the police said.

“Rehan was a former guard of Afaq Ahmed and was the main target of the killers,” said SSP-South Asif Aijaz Shaikh.

The other man killed at the scene was believed to be a passer-by, SSP Shaikh said.

The wounded victim was also a pedestrian, he added.

A spokesman for the MQM-H said Rehan was a member of the party’s consultative committee and was living in hiding. His family lived in Lines Area, but he lived somewhere in the Port Qasim area, party sources said. He was the father of two.

Two workers of the PPP were gunned down in Orangi Town on Monday night.

Police said the incident took place within the remit of the Pakistan Bazaar police station, where Shahid aka Lamba and Shakir Ali were sitting outside their house in Bangla Bazaar, where unknown assailants riding a motorcycle shot them and rode away.

The police said both victims died on the spot. They had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to their heads and chests. The police shifted the bodies to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

On hearing the news, a large number of PPP workers reached the hospital.

Police found several spent bullet casings of 9mm and 30-bore pistols at the crime scene.

Following the killings, tension gripped Bangla Bazaar and different parts of Orangi Town, where shops and markets were closed and heavy firing into the air was resorted to.

Both men were workers of PS-95. Shahid was the father of six. Shakir’s father, Mohammad Ali, was killed in a similar manner in 1995 in Orangi Town, party sources said.

A police officer of the area said a number of PPP workers had been killed in Orangi Town this year in what seemed tit-for-tat attacks. The latest killings appeared part of the same series, he added.

Wounded MQM activist dies

An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement who was wounded in Baldia Town with an associate died at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Monday.

Police said Mohammad Rafique died during treatment while Arshad Qureshi was still said to be in critical condition.

As the news of Rafique’s death spread in Baldia Town, panic once again gripped the locality and intense firing erupted. All shops and markets were forced to shut by unknown persons.

The two MQM activists were wounded with a third person in Baldia Town on Sunday night. Earlier on Sunday, an activist of the defunct People’s Amn Committee was killed and his associate was wounded at Balida Town No 4.

Police said the incident took place within the remit of the Saeedabad police station, where a joint unit-in-charge of Baldia Town, Arshad Qureshi, and his associate Mohammad Rafique were targeted by unknown attackers riding a motorcycle.

Bodies of two young men

The bodies of two unidentified young men were found in different parts of the city on Monday.

One of them was found in Lyari early on Monday morning, police said.

They said the incident took place within the remit of the Kalri police station, where unknown suspects tossed a body, trussed up and stuffed in a gunny bag, from a moving car on Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road.

The victim appeared to have been tortured and shot to the head, the police said. They shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities. Later the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

The police said the victim was in his late 20s and had been killed after being kidnapped at an unknown place. He was subjected to sever torture.

The other unidentified body was found in Landhi on Monday morning, police said.

They said the victim had been shot to the head.

The body was found near the model park in Sector 36-B within the remit of the Landhi police station.

The victim, in his mid-20s, was wearing shalwar kameez.

The police shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities and later the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want identification.

Pickup driver

A pickup driver was shot dead in the Garden area on Monday.

Police said unknown suspects riding a motorcycle fired handgun shots at pickup driver Suleman Khan, 24, near Jhanda Chowk within the remit of the Garden police station. The victim was rushed to the CHK, where he died soon after arrival.

Police said the victim lived in Agra Taj Colony and was heading to Taj Complex on M.A. Jinnah Road after taking tyres from Mauripur Road.

Police were not sure about the motive for the killing.

Pen caretaker

A caretaker of a cattle pen was killed by unknown persons in Memon Goth early on Monday morning.

Police said the incident took place at the guest house of Tehreek-i-Insaaf’s Youth Wing vice president Haji Shabbir Jokhio where suspects barged in and shot Arz Jokhio, who was asleep.

Hearing the gunshots, Haji Shabbir came out with his bodyguard but the attackers had fled, area SHO Rao Khalid said.

The victim was the caretaker of a cattle pen in Memon Goth and frequented Haji Shabbir’s house, police said.

The body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.