Post-SC verdict, Karachi reels and bleeds

Riots broke out across the city after the Supreme Court (SC) convicted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in a contempt-of-court case on Thursday.
A worker each of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) was gunned down among four people and several others injured in the violence that followed the apex court’s decision.
In several parts of the metropolitan city, PPP activists took to the streets and set tyres on fire to obstruct vehicular traffic.
Clifton, Gizri, Mehmoodabad, Kala Pul, Shah Faisal Colony, Nazimabad, New Karachi and Lyari were among the areas where protests were staged against the SC’s decision.
In various parts of the city, unidentified miscreants took to the streets and resorted to aerial firing to close shops and markets in their respective areas, whereas a complete shutter-down strike was observed in Lyari, a stronghold of the PPP in the metropolis.
Shops and markets in Clifton and the Defence Housing Authority were also closed during the day when miscreants resorted to aerial firing, whereas business activities in Steel Town, Bin Qasim Town, Safoora Goth and Ayub Goth were also suspended.
A large number of PPP activists gathered outside the SC’s Karachi Registry and staged a protest, but they dispersed when police personnel arrived on the scene.
While a demonstration was being staged in Lyari, PPP South member and PS-111 President Malik Muhammad Khan Niazi was shot at by unidentified attackers at Aath Chowk in Kalakot police precincts.
Niazi was on his way home to Bakra Piri in Lyari when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets. He was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), but he died before reaching the healthcare facility.
City Town Superintendent of Police Nasir Aftab said that Niazi was murdered by criminals of the Lyari gang war.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Central Coordination Committee Member Waseem Aftab offered his condolences to PPP leader Waqar Mehdi and Karachi President Faisal Raza Abidi over Niazi’s shooting.
In Lyari’s Baghdadi police precincts, another man was killed by unidentified culprits. The victim was identified as 26-year-old Sher Khan and was shifted to the CHK.
Separately, an ANP activist was targeted in Landhi. The victim was identified as 30-year-old Gul Shan. Police said that Shan was visiting Babar Market when he was shot at by two motorcyclists.
They said that the victim suffered two bullets and succumbed to his injuries on the way to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
In a statement, ANP Karachi President Shahi Syed condemned Shan’s murder. Syed said that Shan was a senior member of the party who was also a former president of its Future Colony ward.
In another incident, a man in his late 20s was killed in Shireen Jinnah Colony. The Boat Basin police said that the unidentified man’s body was shifted to the JPMC.