Partial strike on call of nationalist parties

Many parts of the city on Saturday remained tense as partial strike was observed on the call of nationalist parties against the restoration of Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 that left seven persons dead, several wounded and a half dozen vehicles torched during violence that started Friday night.
Incidents of violence and arson began Friday night in many parts of the city where armed groups exhibited vandalism with impunity in the city forcing the masses to stay indoors. Nonetheless, all major markets and business centres, which remained shut till Saturday noon started opening in the second half.
Armed groups, who took to street Friday night, resorted to heavy firing at several parts including Empress Market Saddar, Regal Chowk, Hassan Square, Burns Road, Mashriq Centre, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Steel Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Sacchal, Baldia Town, Ittehad Town, Malir, etc, to spread panic. The vandals also torched half a dozen vehicles on Saturday.
Public transport remained thin in many nationalists supported areas including Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Steel Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Sacchal, Baldia Town, Ittehad Town, Safoora Goth, Malir and Ghaghar Phatak because of fear of violence. Long queues of commuters were seen at bus stops. Patients, office-goers, daily wage earners, etc, faced immense difficulties in reaching their destinations.
At least three persons namely Kamran son of Mir Ahsan, Naeem son of Kashmalo and 70-year-old bystander Noor Jamal son of Jaffar Gul were killed while four others including Munasib Khan, Yasir, Rashid and Naeem injured when unknown armed riders hurled a hand grenade at Diamond CNG pump located at Shamim Shaheed Roundabout in Nazimabad area.
Police said deceased Kamran and Naeem were employed at Diamond CNG pump while the victim Noor was beggar. They said a case 364/11 was registered under sections 3/4 of Explosive Act, 7ATA and sections 147, 148, 302, 324 and 427 of Pakistan Penal Code against unknown culprits on the complaint of police officer Abdul Qayyum on behalf of State.
Nine more persons including five activists of APMSO sustained bullet wounds at Nazimabad area in different firing incidents. Police said five injured namely Naeem, Amin, Yousuf, Kashif and Shahid Ali are stated to be activists of APMSO while other wounded were Momin, Mobeen, Ishaq, Hameed and Kabir. Over half a dozen people including two lawyers Kausar Zaidi and Hassan Mehdi also sustained bullet wounds in separate acts of firing near City Court.
Two bullet-riddled bodies were found in a car near Shah Nawaz roundabout in the jurisdiction of Pak Colony police remits. Police said the victims have been identified as Ubaid son of Ibrahim and Saleh Muhammad. They said both the victims, who went missing since Friday night, were found dead in a car at Pak Colony. They added that Ubaid was said to be Balochistan police ASI. A 30-year-old unknown was stabbed to death at Shumail Goth at Steel Town. One Syed Khan, 45 was gunned down near Dawood Chowrangi in Landhi police precincts. Police said the victim hailed from Waziristan. An activist of ANP Bakht Alam, 45 and 26-year-old woman Rukaiya received bullet wounds at Quaid Azam Colony in Gulshan Iqbal Town. The miscreants also torched an oil tanker (C-1413) at Steel Town, Hiace (JF-336) at Shah Faisal No 4, a passenger bus at new vegetable market, a private vehicle and a bike at Nazimabad. Two activists of JSQM received bullet wounds when their rally was attacked at Gulistan Jauhar.
Meanwhile, police and paramilitary rangers, deployed at affected areas to bring law and order situation under control, conducted search operations in these localities. They claimed to have detained over 50 persons including several political workers and nationalists and recovered huge cache of arms including Kalashnikovs, pistols and other sophisticated weapons from their possession. Saud Mirza, CCPO Karachi could not be reached for comments.