HYDERABAD, May 19: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has claimed that two of its supporters received gunshot wounds during firing in Ansari Mohalla on Sunday.

MQM Hyderabad zonal committee member Iftikhar Qaimkhani alleged that Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP) activist Pir Waris Ali Ansari and his son resorted to firing while a group of local residents were protesting against PTI chief Imran Khan’s statement holding MQM chief Altaf Hussain responsible for the killing of PTI leader Zahrah Shahid Husain. He said traders and shopkeepers were pulling down the shutters when the JUP activists became engaged in a brawl with MQM supporters and resorted to firing.

Rejecting the allegation, Pir Ansari said he had already closed down his factory in the area but some 30-40 MQM activists started arguing with his son over enforcement of a shutterdown. During the heated arguments, he added, someone from among the protesters fired shots at his house. He said that the matter was reported at the Pinyari police station.

SHO Rana Pervaiz told Dawn that two persons sustained pellet injuries in an exchange of firing between JUP and MQM supporters.

JUP leader Sahibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair, in a statement, condemned the incident and urged the Hyderabad SSP to investigate the matter.