Senior Balochistan National Party leader shot dead

The party terms Nooruddin Mengal’s murder a case of targeted killing

QUETTA: Senior leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) Mir Nooruddin Mengal was shot dead by unidentified men near his residence in Kalat, some 145 kilometres in the southeast of Quetta, on Wednesday.

According to sources, Nooruddin stepped out from his residence in Gharebabad near Kalat Bazar when unidentified men ambushed him and opened fired. The assailants who were on a motorbike managed to escape from the scene.

Nooruddin sustained bullet injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital by local people where he was referred to Quetta for specialised treatment.

However, he succumbed to his injuries on his way to Quetta.

“The victim was shot in the head and chest,” a doctor at the Kalat Hospital disclosed.

Nooruddin was a member of the central committee of Balochistan National Party. He was the first cousin of Justice Amirul Mulk Mengal, a former Governor and Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court.

He was involved in politics for many decades and even served time in prison for fighting for Baloch national rights.

He was considered to be very close to BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal.

A large number of BNP workers reached the hospital soon after the incident to condemn the assassination.  As a result, traffic remained disrupted for several hours.

The police are still investigating the motives behind the attack.

“Investigations were underway to chase the criminals who carried out the attack,” an official said.

However, BNP leadership termed the incident a case of targeted killing by state functionaries and linked it with the murder of Jalib Baloch and other leaders.

Acting president of BNP Dr Janzeb Jamaldini has condemned the incident and termed it a pre-planned strategy to create a serious law and order situation in the province.

Jamaldini said it was part of the ongoing target killing of BNP leadership in order to eliminate them from political surface of the province.

“BNP will not be cowed down or made to deviate from the struggle of national rights,” he said.

He announced that BNP will hold a protest demonstration on Thursday (today), as well as a shutter-down strike throughout Balochistan on Friday. He also announced a ten-day mourning period.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2010.