KARACHI, April 20: Five activists of different political parties were shot dead at various places in the city on Wednesday. Two Muttahida Qaumi Movement activists were killed in New Karachi; a Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi) activist was killed in Gulberg; a former guard of PPP-SB leader Mir Murtaza Bhutto was shot dead in Mehmoodabad; and the bullet-riddled body of a Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz worker was found in the limits of Malir City police.
A senior police official, describing the incidents as target killings, pointed out that the modus operandi appeared almost the same. Motorcycles were used in all the attacks, he added.
The two Muttahida activists, Abdul Wahab, 23, and Mohammad Zubair, 25, had gone to see their friend Jawed at his shop in New Karachi when an armed man on a motorbike sprayed the two with bullets and fled, police said, adding that Wahab died on the spot whereas Zubair succumbed to his injuries on way to a hospital.
A police official said that Abdul Wahab had a dispute with his in-laws and his wife was living with her parents. The official said that the dispute might have something to do with the incident, adding that police were investigating the killing from all angles.
A case under the FIR No 60/2005 has been registered against unidentified assailants on a complaint by Abdul Rahim, father of Abdul Wahab.
Meanwhile, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, in a press statement, has condemned the killing of the two Muttahida activists and condoled their deaths with the bereaved families.
The MQM coordination committee has also condoled the deaths and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families. Terming the incident a conspiracy to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the city, it said that those involved in the ghastly act were enemies of the city. It demanded arrest of the killers and called for exemplary punishment to them.
The Haqiqi man, Mohammad Saeed, 40, who had been released on bail some three months back, was sitting at the brick-making place of his uncle in Gulberg police limits when two men on a motorbike shot him dead.
Area police said that Saeed had been arrested for his alleged involvement in several cases. Some old and personal enmity could be the motive for his killing, they believed.
Tariq Awan, 33, the ex-guard of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, had gone to Mehmoodabad to see one of his friends where he was shot dead. He was a resident of Gurumandir area.
In Malir City police precinct, Sualeh Mohammad was allegedly kidnapped from his home in Ittefaq Town. Later, he was found dead in Khokhrapar No.2. Police believed that Sualeh was subjected to torture and his body was dumped at the scene later. The victim, a JSQM worker, was a minibus driver by profession.
Area police, citing persisting rivalry between two factions of the party over the past several months, said that the killing could be a result of the differences.
Meanwhile, tension gripped the JSQM-dominated areas, including Muhabbat Nagar and Khokhrapar, following the killing. Some activists forced shopkeepers in the affected areas to close their shops and business concerns.
In yet another incident, three Sunni Tehrik (ST) activists suffered bullet wounds when unidentified armed men on a motorbike opened fire at them near Chandni Chowk in the Saeedabad police jurisdiction.
The activists, Mohammad Rasheed, 25, Salman Saleem, 14, and Farhan Siddique, 24, were rushed to Civil Hospital for treatment.