KARACHI: In what looked to be a vengeance killing, nine gunmen blasted gunshots into a vehicle near Guru Mandir on Thursday morning, killing two brothers and injuring an equal number of siblings.
The fifth brother, who was also in the car, was not injured in the attack, according to authorities.
The victims were on their way to court to face charges in a murder case when their automobile was attacked in broad daylight.
According to the authorities, the perpetrators and their victims were close relatives, and the attack was motivated by personal hostility.
CCTV footage that went viral on social media showed six assailants on three motorbikes encircling the car from three sides and firing indiscriminately. They were not wearing masks.
Jamshed Quarters SHO Imtiaz Husain Shah informed Dawn that when the victims’ car arrived at Fatima Bai Hospital on Business Recorder Road about 8 a.m., nine suspects riding four motorbikes intercepted it and opened fire on it.
The driver raced the car to flee, but the gunmen pursued it and opened fire as soon as it halted near the Mehrab Travel office. As a consequence, two brothers, Sajid Aurangzeb, 42, and Umair, 27, who were seated in the front seat, sustained several gunshot wounds and died on the scene.
Their three other brothers, who were riding in the rear seat, exited the vehicle in an attempt to leave for safety. However, the assailants also targeted them, and two of them, Zubair and Wajid, received bullet wounds. Shanzeb, 22, was not injured in the fire.
The wounded were sent to the Aga Khan University Hospital for treatment.
According to the SHO, Shanzeb identified five of the nine assailants as Mian Zar, his three sons—Arshad, Rashid, and Riaz—and Riaz’s son Amir.
The SHO stated that the major suspect, Mian Zar, was the father-in-law of one of the brothers, Sajid.
Mian Zar’s son, Muhammad Aijaz Mian, was gunned killed on December 23, 2023, and his son Riaz named the five brothers in the FIR, the SHO stated.
He stated that the five brothers had secured bail from the court and were on their way to appear before it when the fatal occurrence occurred.
According to investigators, both families ran ice cream parlors in the Guru Mandir region.
Jamshed SP Aleena Rajpar informed the reporters that detectives had recovered 17 expended gunshot casings from the murder site.
Maria Ghanchi