ASWJ worker and ST activist shot dead

Police suspect men killed due to sectarian violence.

KARACHI:

The authorities suspect that two men who were killed in separate incidents were targeted in sectarian violence on Saturday.

One victim, who worked for Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), was gunned down near Dawood Chowrangi on Saturday, said the Quaidabad police. They claim that 34-year-old Fayyaz was on a mini passenger Hi-ace when two motorcyclists shot him. The motorcyclists managed to escape. The police added that he lived in Landhi 89.

According to DSP Nasir Lodhi, Fayyaz was on his way home from City Courts. He added that they did not know the motive behind the murder yet but it could be a sectarian killing. ASWJ spokesperson Taj Hanafi condemned the incident and said that Fayyaz was an active worker in Landhi. He added that killing party workers was a conspiracy to sabotage the law and order situation in Karachi, especially during Muharram. Hanafi demanded the government arrest the suspects. No case was registered by the time this report was filed.

A former Sunni Tehreek (ST) activist was also shot dead, near his house in Chanesar Goth, said the Tipu Sultan police. Shahid Raza, 29, was sitting outside the house near Parsi Gate, Mehmoodabad, when two men on a motorcycle killed him. SHO Chaudhry Irshad said that Raza was dismissed by the ST a year ago and was working as a sub-inspector at the Police Qaumi Razakar. He added that an investigation was being carried out but they could not rule out sectarian violence.

The bodies were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.