KARACHI, June 12: Two people were killed in separate acts of violence in parts of the city on Thursday, police said.

A 25-year-old worker at a bakery was shot dead by bandits in Orangi Town early in the morning.

The police said victim Mohammed Salman, son of Umer Din, was asleep outside the Bismillah Bakery in the A-1 area when three men arrived there in a Suzuki pick-up.

They said the victim woke up and struggled with the intruders, who opened fire, killing him instantly.

The police said the dacoits fled after the shooting and they could not take along anything from the bakery.

The body of the victim, a resident of North Karachi, was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where sources said the victim had received a single bullet from point-blank range as it pierced his upper torso.

Shepherd shot

A 35-year-old shepherd was shot dead by bandits who also took away 22 goats in Naddu Goth.

Malir Cantt police registered a case against unknown culprits for the murder of Lakhano, son of Allah Bachayo, on the complaint of the victim’s brother, Aacher.

Kidnapper held

The Anti-street Crime Unit of Keamari Town arrested a suspect who had kidnapped a copywriter of the DawnNews TV channel for ransom and released her on payment of Rs2 million as a ransom.

Mehnaz Umer, wife of Naveed Umer Minhas, was kidnapped on Khayaban-i-Ghazi on April 29 at around 7.15am when she was driving her 11-year-old son to school.

The 21-year-old suspect, identified as Ikram Ullah, got into her Toyota (AGZ-520) as she slowed down over a speed-breaker and held her hostage at gunpoint.

The victim’s son got out of the car and ran towards his house when he saw a stranger getting into the car. The kidnapper called the victim’s husband, a banker, from her cellphone and demanded Rs2 million for her release.

The kidnapper asked Mr Minhas to reach in front of Iqra University in the Baloch Colony police area with the money.

The victim’s husband accordingly handed over the money to the kidnapper, who instantly released the woman, but took away her car.

Inspector Nasirul Hasan told Dawn that he, with his team, was conducting snap-checking on Mauripur Road when they stopped the suspect’s car that bore a bogus registration number, AHQ-969.

He said the suspect did not have the documents of the vehicle and a search of his car boot led to the recovery of Rs1.25 million.

The inspector said the suspect was taken into custody on suspicion. “During preliminary grilling the suspect broke down and disclosed his involvement in the kidnapping,” he added.

Inspector Nasir said the suspect had a friend who lived close to the victim’s home. “He masterminded the kidnapping as he had been noticing the woman driving her son to school regularly,” he said.

The police official said the suspect had changed the colour of the victim’s car from blue to black. “He also replaced the original registration number from AGZ-520 to AHQ-969,” he said.

He said the police produced the suspect on Thursday before a judicial magistrate, who remanded him in police custody for further investigation.

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