The streets of Eidulane and Ali Muhammad Mohalla echoed with uninterrupted gunfire as rival groups took on each other from their strongholds.

The police backed by the Rangers pressed into service 17 armoured personnel carriers and deployed 300 commandoes in a bid to assert themselves for the first time in the four-day-old clashes.

Capital City Police Officer Wasim Ahmed claimed that the police went for across-the-board action against every criminal gang and most of the gangsters were “now on the run”.

He said the police had credible evidence that criminals were operating kidnapping and extortion rackets from Ali Mohammad Mohalla — a stronghold of Ghaffar Zikri.

“But we are not operating against any single group,” he said, adding that the desired results would be achieved in a day or two.

The Ghaffar Zikri group, however, saw the entire episode as being sponsored by the government-backed People's Peace Committee.“In the morning our men led by my younger brother Sattar Zikri were holding their positions in the picket set up for security in Ali Mohammad Mohalla,” Shiraz Zikri, the young brother of Ghaffar Zikri, told Dawn when contacted on the phone.

“A heavy contingent of police in mobile vans reached the area, causing us to think that the situation had become normal and the late-night talks with the rival group coupled with assurances by the authorities had borne fruit.”

He said the Ghaffar Zikri men left the scene and dispersed peacefully, leaving the area under control of the police. However, he said, they were surprised to notice that the force had left the area after half an hour without any warning, information or directives.

“And when our men returned to their positions, armed men emerged from the surrounding and opened indiscriminate firing on them.”

He said the firing killed his 19-year-old brother Sattar Zikri with Faisal Tony, a close aide of Ghaffar Zikri.