KARACHI, Feb 22: Seven men, including two clerics said to be associated with the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and an equal number of policemen, were gunned down in the city on Friday, police said.

They said that Maulana Dilfaraz Mauavia, 45, and his associate Haji Usman were targeted by two men riding a motorbike near the Denim Chowrangi within the remit of the SITE-A police station.

The two men suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Maulana Mauavia was pronounced dead on arrival while Haji Usman died during treatment, said SITE SP Ali Asif.

He said that the ASWJ claimed that Maulana Mauvia was associated with the party, while the second victim was said to be a former student of Jamia Binoria.

An ASWJ spokesman said that Maulana Mauvia was a leader of the party’s Baldia Town chapter and he along with his associate Haji Usman was heading home after offering Friday prayers.

Late Friday night, two ASWJ activists were targeted in the Gulbahar area, the police said.

The officials said that Naveed Ahmed and Muhammad Sohail were sitting near a shop in Phoolwali Gali where they were fired at in a drive-by shooting. The wounded were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Naveed died during treatment. The killings took place at a time when ASWJ workers were staging protest demonstrations in different parts of the city over targeted killings of its activists and supporters.

Two policemen gunned down

Meanwhile, two policemen were shot dead in different areas of the city, officials said.

They added that police constable Akhtar Ali was gunned down in the Metroville area of Site.

The police said that the police constable was heading home from work on a motorbike when he was targeted by armed men riding a motorcycle.

The victim was posted in the Site-B police station.

The police shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

A young police official was shot dead in Manghopir on Friday night, officials said.

They added said that police constable Nadeem Baloch, 28, was riding a bike when he was targeted within the remit of the Manghopir bazaar police station.

The police said that the victim was not in uniform.

They shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.

Killing in North Karachi

A young man was gunned down in what the police described as a targeted attack in North Karachi on Friday.

The police said that gunmen riding a motorcycle fired at Maqsood Ali, 32, who was returning home after offering Friday prayers in Sector 5-C-2 within the jurisdiction of the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station.

He was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, they said.

North Karachi SP Syed Salman Hussain said that the victim was not active in any political or religious party. However, the victim’s elder brother, Hafiz Ahmed Ali, was an office-bearer of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam in Karachi.

Man shot dead

A young man was shot dead in the New Karachi Industrial Area on Friday evening, police said.

They said that Mohammad Kashif and his friend Faisal were having tea outside an auto-workshop when armed men riding a motorcycle pulled up there, pumped two bullets in Kashif’s head and rode away, said North Karachi SP Hussain.

It was not immediately clear whether the victim had affiliation with any political or religious party, the police said.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Killing in Korangi

A middle-aged man was killed in Korangi on Friday, police said.

They said that armed men riding a motorbike opened fire on a jeep near Singer Chowrangi within the remit of the Awami Colony police station and rode away. The bullets hit Abdul Sattar, 40, who was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The police were not sure about the motive for the killing.

They said that the victim was previously affiliated with the proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan.

However, the ASWJ, believed to be the reincarnation of the banned SSP, did not own the victim as their worker or supporter.

Minor girl found ‘raped’, murdered

The body of a six-year-old girl was found at a desolate place in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Friday.

Police said that the girl had gone missing on Thursday noon in Sikandar Goth and her father, a tailor by profession, lodged a report regarding her disappearance with the Sachal police station after he failed to find her.

He informed the police that his daughter was playing outside the home but did not return. On Friday evening, the body was found in a deserted lane within the remit of the Mobina Town police station. The body was shifted to the JPMC for a post-mortem examination.

Although, the findings of the post-mortem examination were not immediately known, the police suspected that the little girl had been subjected to a sexual assault before being murdered. There were marks of strangulation around the neck, the police said.