Daily Times

KARACHI: The Suspect who was killed in an encounter with Garden police on Tuesday has been identified as Aftab Zikri, the younger brother of notorious gang war leader Ghaffar Zikri . Aftab was said to be running his own gang of street criminals comparing on at least eighteen members, involved in over 300 incidents of street crimes, police official claimed.

Dead body of Aftab Zikri was shifted to Edhi morgue where some family members approached on Wednesday and took the body with them to their native area Zikri Muhala Lyari Town.

SHO Garden Ghulam Nabi told Daily Times that on Tuesday in the wee hours Garden police team was on routine patrolling in the area when they spotted a suspicious motorcyclist on Mirza Adam Khan Road, but when they tried to stop him, he fired shots which left a police constable named Mohammed Ali wounded.

“Aftab Zikri died on the spot when police party retaliated after a brief exchange of gunfire and police recovered a pistol and several rounds from his possession, but couldn’t find anything which could have proved his identity. Finally, after medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital Karachi, the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification and a case of the incident was registered in the police station.” He further added.

Later at Tuesday night the investigation police identified him and after wards the family of Aftab also came to police and identified him and sought custody order form the police.

“Aftab Zikri was closely affiliated with the gang war and was heading his own eighteen members’ gang, he was wanted in more than two dozen cases ranging from extortion to murder and kidnapping for ransom to street crimes” Ghulam Nabi claimed.

Gang of deceased has collectively committed over 300 street robberies and he was an active member of his gang when the gang warfare between rival groups was at its peak three years ago ,” the SHO added .

According to the Lyari police Aftab went traceless as his brother Ghaffar Zikri was, when police and paramilitary forces launched an operation in the city including Lyari Town against criminals and his last where about was traced in Dubai. It is being said that Aftab had returned back to Lyari recently and got killed in a police encounter.

Published in Daily Times, July 13^th , 2017.