KARACHI: In what police described as a ‘revenge killing’ incident, armed men stormed into a house in Sohrab Goth on Friday and shot dead two children after failing to find their father, their real target, officials said.

They said that the incident was related to a bloody feud among close relatives in Shahdadkot, where the father of the victim boys had allegedly killed a man and escaped to Karachi.

The police said that the incident took place in Gharibabad Mohalla of Jamali Goth and the victims were identified as Majid Taj, five, and his brother, Yaseen, four. A relative, identified as Shazia Sajan, 25, also suffered critical gunshot wounds.

They were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors pronounced Majid dead on arrival.

Police say the suspects wanted to kill the children’s father who had murdered someone in Shahdadkot

Additional Police Surgeon Dr Saleem Shaikh said he sustained a single bullet wound in the head.

His brother Yaseen was also shot once in the head. He was moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he died during treatment in the evening.

Dr Shaikh said that the condition of the wounded woman, who suffered three bullets wounds in the abdomen and leg, was critical.

DIG East Amir Farooqi said that the double murder appeared to be the outcome of a family dispute in Shahdadkot. The victims’ family had migrated from Shahdadkot as their father, Taj Mohammad, was charged with murdering someone there.

He said Taj appeared to be the real target of the killers. When they did not find him, they targeted the family and escaped, he added.

The Sohrab Goth police said that the family nominated two brothers — Nawab Din and Dildar Din — in the case. They were said to be cousins of Taj.

Suspects in Rs2.7m cash van heist held

Police on Friday claimed to have arrested two suspects for their alleged involvement in looting over Rs2 million in Federal B. Area last week.

On Jan 3, unknown armed pillion riders intercepted the cash van of a private security company within the remit of the Yousuf Plaza police station. As the guards put up resistance, the robbers shot them, snatched a bag containing over Rs2.7m and fled.

SSP Central Arif Aslam Rao on Friday claimed that the police arrested two suspects involved in the robbery and their two accomplices and recovered Rs2.5m looted cash, a pistol used in the crime and motorbike from their custody.

The main suspects were identified as Saifullah and Badshah Husain. Their two accomplices were Yusuf and Amjad.

The police said they were arrested within a week with the help of modern technology and witnesses.

Several snatched mobiles phones were also recovered from their custody.

The SSP said that suspect Saifullah suffered a bullet wound during the exchange of fire on Jan 3 with the van’s security guards, but he managed to get registered a ‘fake’ attempted murder case at the Orangi Town police station.

“The held suspects have been involved in murders, attempted murders and dacoity cases in the past,” the SSP said, adding that they were ‘habitual criminals’ who were arrested several times in the past and got released.

“They belong to a dangerous group and concerted efforts are under way to arrest their remaining accomplices,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2020