18 killed as violence flares up in Karachi

Friday, February 01, 2013 More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponShare on emailShare on print| 18 killed as violence flares up in Karachi * Three Sunni clerics ambushed * Enraged seminary students ransack emergency ward of hospital where victims were taken By Danish Rafique KARACHI: In yet another massive wave of target killings in the city on Thursday, at least 18 people, including three clerics, lost their lives. Meanwhile, armed miscreants torched a vehicle in Landhi. Three clerics of the Deoband school of thought were gunned down in an ambush in Nursery within the precincts of Tipu Sultan Police Station. Police said that three armed men on a motorcycle fired a volley of bullets at a vehicle, hitting 50-year-old Mufti Abdul Majeed Dinpuri, 40-year-old Mufti Muhammad Saleh and 29-year-old Ehsan Ali Shah. The men were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for treatment where the doctors pronounced them dead. Scores of seminary students reached the hospital following the bloodshed and took away the bodies without completion of legal formalities. They also ransacked the emergency ward of the hospital. Meanwhile, miscreants resorted to aerial firing in different areas of the city. Police said that the deceased were heading towards the Jamia-e-Dervaishia, located near the Baloch Colony, from Jamia Farooqia, in Shah Faisal. The funeral prayers of the slain clerics were offered at Jamshaid Road. Scores of seminary students and leaders of various religious organisations participated in the funerals and chanted slogans against the frequent incidents of target killing. The banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan condemned the incident and announced three days of mourning and protest after Friday prayers today. Separately, an ex-president of Markazi Tanzeem-e-Aza was killed near his shop situated in Landhi. Police said that the deceased, 46-year-old Iqbal Masood, was going home from his shop when two armed pillion riders shot at him multiple times, killing him instantly. The body was shifted to JPMC for medicolegal formalities. The deceased was ex-president of Markazi Tanzeem-e-Aza and was currently its office-bearer. A man belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat was killed while another was injured in an armed attack near KDA Chowrangi. Police said armed bikers fired at a rickshaw in which the deceased was travelling along with five other men. A man was shot dead in Baldia by unidentified armed men, who escaped after the shooting. Another man was killed in a cattle pen in the Bhains Colony. The deceased hailed from interior Sindh. In another killing, a man was shot dead by unidentified bikers in Landhi while standing by the roadside. Armed men shot dead a man near Bagh Korangi while he was sitting outside his house. Three bullet-riddled bodies packed in separate gunny bags were found from the Qaimkhani Colony. Police claimed that unidentified people had kidnapped the victims and tortured them before shooting them dead. The three were close friends and were abducted from Orangi Town on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, two more bodies packed in gunny bags were found from Yaro Goth. Police asserted that the victims had been missing from Balochistan and were killed there and their bodies were later dumped in Yaro Goth. Their bodies were brought to the ASH for postmortem. Similarly, tortured body of a man was found from near Askari Park in Old Sabzi Mandi. Police took it to JPMC for autopsy and said that the victim had been shot multiple times. A body wrapped in cloth was found from Rexer Bridge. Police said the victim was dumped there after being killed someplace else. He was a resident of Chakiwara, Lyari, and had been dismissed from Pakistan Rangers and was currently working as a labourer. Meanwhile, a body packed in a gunny bag was found form Ghas Mandi. Police said the victim had been abducted and later shot dead. The body was taken to CHK for autopsy. A handcuffed body of a man was found from Timber Market, Old Haji Camp. An official said that the identity of the deceased was to be ascertained. The body was shifted to CHK for autopsy and later moved to morgue for identification.