karachi

Sunday, November 30, 2008
KARACHI: Fourteen people were killed and over 80, including four women, sustained injuries while 17 vehicles were torched in separate incidents of violence in the metropolis on Saturday.

Various incidents of stone pelting and aerial firing were also reported. Following the incidents, shops were also closed in most areas as chief of Sindh Police said that the situation had been brought under control. Eyewitnesses said that the violence started from the Banaras area when some armed men held a protest and blocked the Bacha Khan Chowk.

The protest turned violent when two groups exchanged fire in which several people sustained injuries. The protesters also torched vehicles. Meanwhile, unidentified armed men started firing in other parts of the city. Safdar, 30, was killed in Nazimabad while two brothers, Naseeb and Aqeel, died in North Nazimabad.

Babar Shah, 35, a resident of Pahar Gunj, was returning home when armed men killed him. Another unidentified man was killed in North Nazimabad. Three more people died near the Nazimabad Bridge in the Liaquatabad Town. Matiullah was gunned down in Paposh Nagar while Najeeb, 45; Mukhtar Ali and Muhammad Ali were killed in Orangi Town. An unidentified person was shot dead in Kala Board area. Most of the bodies and the injured were shifted to the Qatar Hospital while some of them were ferried to the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre and the Civil Hospital.

Civil Hospital sources said that they received the body of Najeebullah, who was injured in Baldia Town. He succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment, the sources said. Qatar Hospital sources said that they had received three bodies and over 90 injured. They added that most of the victims were from Manghopir, Mominabad and Peerabad areas.

Meanwhile, miscreants torched seven rickshaws near Liaquatabad No 10. Unidentified armed men torched five mini-buses and a rickshaw in Sector-4, F-3 stand, Saeedabad, while a bullet-riddled body of an unidentified man was found from a Suzuki Hi-roof CF-2176 from Block-L1 in the Surjani Town police limits.

Also, a car was torched by unidentified men near Ancholi in the Gulberg police limits and news of ariel firing was also reported. Armed men reportedly threatened shopkeepers to close their businesses. Incidents of violence were also reported from SITE, Pakistan Bazaar, Gulberg, Gulbahar, Moosa Colony, Garden, Saddar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Buffer Zone, Patel Para, Ranchore Lines, Kharadar, Mithadar and other areas.

Meanwhile, Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed said that directives had been issued to the police to arrest and deal with anti-social elements with an iron hand. No leniency would be shown to miscreants, he added. He said that the police had brought the situation under control. He said that the police had arrested over 20 suspects and recovered arms from their possession. A Rangers spokesman said that their personnel were put on high alert and were moved to the affected areas to bring the situation under control