KARACHI, Feb 23: Another worker of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat was gunned down in a Korangi area on Saturday, police said.

They said that armed men fired at 37-year-old Qari Muhammad Ameen, a prayer leader, near Korangi Crossing within the remit of the Ibrahim Hyderi police station and escaped. The victim was heading towards Jama Masjid Bilal to lead Maghrib prayers when he was targeted.

“He was hit by three bullets and died on the spot,” said an official at the Ibrahim Hyderi police station. “The victim was the prayer leader of the Jama Masjid Bilal. He had been leading Friday prayers in Jama Masjid Ibrahim located in the same area for some time.”

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

The targeted killing of yet another cleric of the ASWJ led to a violent protest in the area, where charged youths took to the streets and blocked the main Korangi Crossing traffic intersection causing suspension of vehicular traffic.  Police and Rangers reached the troubled area and managed to disperse the crowd.

An ASWJ spokesman said that the victim was a senior party activist and associated with the Korangi sector of the party’s organisational structure.

“Only on Friday we staged protest sit-ins at more than half a dozen places in Karachi. We ended our protest after the government assured us that the killers would be arrested,” he said. “But within 18 hours, three of our workers, including two prayer leaders, have been killed in different districts. The government has lost every right to rule and it is us forcing to give a call for countrywide protests.”

Shop owner killed in Defence

A 55-year-old auto shop owner was killed at his shop in Defence on Saturday in a gun attack that police investigators said could be a result of some personal issue.

“Muneer Hussain was at his shop in Defence Phase II where armed men riding a motorbike attacked him,” said an official at the Defence police station. “He sustained two bullet wounds and died on the spot. The body was later moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities.”

The official said the victim had occupied the shop some four months after years-long property dispute within the family.

He had two wives and none of them came to receive his body for several hours, added the official.

The victim belonged to Shia sect but the police investigators said the murder did not seem to have been carried out on sectarian grounds. Besides, none of the Shia organisations came up with any claim.

The investigators found a few clues to some personal issues that might have played a role in the killing. However, as the investigation was under way the police said they were looking into all aspects and could arrive at a conclusion in a day or two.

After medico-legal formalities, the body was later handed over to the family of his first wife, he said.

Man found shot dead

A young man was found shot dead in Ghazi Goth, Orangi Town Sector 16, off the main Manghopir Road, police said.

They added the victim, 25, was hit by four bullets fired from a very close range.

“Clad in shalwar kameez, the victim’s body indicates that he was killed over the past 24 hours,” said an official at the Manghopir police station.

The body was later shifted to the Edhi morgue for want of identification after medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Attack on meat shop

Fear gripped the area along Liaquatabad No 10 after some men riding a motorbike hurled a hand grenade at a meat shop in the locality though it did not explode.

The area police said the shop owner along with some traders approached the police with the hand grenade. “It was not attached with any fuse,” said Wajahat Hussain, the area deputy superintendent of police (DSP).

“It looked more like an attempt to harass the meat seller. The shop owner denied having received any threat for extortion and having enmity with any individual or group,” he said.

The police said no case had been lodged so far.