KARACHI, Aug 28: Three gangsters were killed on Tuesday in Chakiwara in the ongoing Lyari gang warfare, said police and witnesses.
The bodies were moved by Edhi ambulances to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where the dead men were identified as Abid, Naveed and Kashif. They had received multiple bullet wounds.
Lyari SP Fayyaz Khan told Dawn that the victims belonged to Arshad Pappu’s group and the clash took place at Sangu Lane at around 4:45pm.
“The gangsters also opened fire on the police party that reached the spot,” he added.
The official said that differences surfaced between Doctor Shoaib and Jabbar, alias Langra, both of whom belong to Arshad Pappu’s group, which led to the lethal confrontation.
“The two gangsters suspected each other’s men of being police informers,” he said.
Residents said that Naveed, Kashif and their accomplices first exchanged hot words with Abid and his accomplices near the latter’s house at Sangu Lane. Then, they reported, the gangsters opened fire with automatic weapons on Abid, killing him instantly. Abid’s accomplices retaliated and killed two rivals.
The Chakiwara police said that the three gangsters were wanted in several criminal cases. Deceased Kashif, who was married a week ago, was the brother-in-law of the deceased Naveed.
Following the killings, panic gripped Lyari as the area reverberated with the sound of heavy gunfire. People ran for shelter and shopkeepers pulled down their shutters as armed men took up positions and exchanged fire.
The police said that they reached the spot immediately after the incident took place, and were fired upon before the gangsters disappeared into narrow alleys in the vicinity.
At least six people, including two constables and three gangsters, have been killed in separate parts of Lyari during August. A police constable was shot dead and his friend critically wounded on Monday in a targeted killing. Earlier, on August 9, another police constable and a friend were targeted and shot dead.
Panic and tension have intensified in the crime-ridden neighbourhood following the killing of Majeed Speed and his alleged accomplice on August 15 in Kalakot.
The Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Home Affairs, Waseem Akhtar, told Dawn that the police were doing their utmost to contain violence in Lyari.
“The gang warfare in Lyari is a long-standing issue, but it is getting closer to its logical end,” he said.
The adviser said that families of the criminals were protecting them. “These families provide the gangsters hiding places and shelters,” he said.Mr Akhtar said certain steps were being taken to contain the gang warfare in the locality. “We have replaced old police officials with the new ones as the former had established a connection with the criminals,” he added. He said narrow lanes and congested neighbourhoods were hindering effective policing in the vicinity.
“People are also afraid of criminals and they do not come forward to help law-enforcement agencies,” he said.The adviser said the gangsters also had safe hideouts in the vicinity of Malir. “We are not sitting like silent spectators and letting the criminals fight freely,” he claimed.
