Hyderabad sees three target killings in 24 hours

HYDERABAD: Three people were killed in as many incidents of target killings within 24 hours in Qasimabad and Latifabad tehsils of Hyderabad.

A rickshaw driver was shot dead on Friday by unidentified suspects near the Hyderabad Qasimabad bypass. According to the Hyderabad police, the rickshaw driver’s name was Siraj Umrani and he died on the spot.

Police said he was shot by three suspects, including a woman, who fled the scene after the shooting. The body of the rickshaw driver was shifted to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination, and an FIR registered at the Naseem Nangar police station.

In another incident, a man named Imran was killed apparently over personal enmity. Imtiaz Aeri, who was shot and injured by armed suspects in the Qasimabad area of Hyderabad on Thursday night, succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning.

The deceased man belonged to the nationalist Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, and a case of the incident was registered at the Bhitai Nangar police station on the complaint of Mudassar Lashari, another person injured in the incident. According to the Hyderabad police, some suspects had been nominated in the case, with whom the victim had a dispute.

Meanwhile, two unidentified persons riding a motorcycle fired at a passer-by in Latifabad No 12 Furniture Market and escaped. A video of the incident showed that after being hit by two bullets, the young man fell on the road and lay there for a long time.

After receiving the information, the A Section police reached the spot, took the body of the youth into custody and shifted it to the Sindh Government Bhitai Hospital Latifabad, where the deceased man was identified as 30-year-old Mir Murtaza, son of Malik Dad Jatoi.

The murdered youth was said to be a resident of Sujawal district. According to police, the youth was killed by his community members to take revenge as there was an old enmity among the people of the victim's community, which had resulted in killings in the past as well.

Murtaza was returning from a Jamshoro court on Thursday after appearing on a hearing when he was targeted by the plaintiff in the case, police said. After legal proceedings, the body was handed over to the mother-in-law of the deceased man. Police said that till the late hours of Friday, no relative of the deceased had contacted them for registration of a case.