Karachi police on Friday arrested two suspects — a man and his son — over their alleged involvement in shooting at and wounding Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’ (PTI) member of Sindh Assembly Ramzan Ghanchi a day earlier, police said.
Ghanchi was shot injured on Thursday night in Karachi’s old city area, in the limits of Napier police station, reportedly over a dispute about laying a water line in the Timber Market area.
“Napier police registered a case against a man and his two sons over charges of attempted murder and arrested Suleman Soomro and his son Shahnawaz,” said City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muquddus Haider.
Suleman Soomro is the president of the Timber Market Association.
A third suspect, Suleman’s son Ali Soomro, who is also the vice chairman of the union council in the area, was still on the run. SSP Haider said the suspect had managed to escape to interior Sindh and efforts were underway to arrest him.
Ali Soomro has been identified as the main suspect in the incident, the official said, adding that he had allegedly shot the PTI legislator with a 9mm pistol.
“The scuffle erupted between the legislator and the suspects over laying of [a] water line in the area,” the City SSP said.
Investigators collected two spent bullet casings and one live bullet from the site of the incident.
Another police officer, SHO Napier Azam Khan, who was suspended following the incident, said the incident took place after an exchange of heated words between Ali and Ghanchi over the water line issue.
The officer said that the PTI legislator wanted to lay a water line from the main water conduit but the opponents barred Ghanchi from doing so as he did not have permission from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).
However, Ghanchi, in his statement before police, alleged that the suspects were illegally laying a water line and he had gone to the site to stop them.
Following the incident, the PTI lawmaker, who sustained a bullet wound in his leg, was admitted to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital for treatment.
