Reporter’s murder: Sindh CJ moved for suo motu notice

People concerned about safety as Wali Khan Babar was targeted in an area with heavy security and traffic.

KARACHI: Two people moved an application with the Sindh High Court Chief Justice on Saturday to take suo motu notice of the killing of the young Geo News reporter, Wali Khan Babar.

They maintained that the alleged targeted killing of a journalist raised new concerns among residents of Karachi as he was shot dead close to a police and Rangers picket and during rush hour.

Despite the presence of law enforcers in the city, suspects have easy access to sophisticated weapons and easily flee from the crime scene, the applicants submitted. This has left people in shock and concern about their personal security, they added.

The circumstances in which the murder was carried out, it could be dubbed as a conspiracy to restrain journalists from performing their professional duties without any fear, they said. They appealed to the SHC chief justice to take a suo motu notice of the murder, which, according to them, resulted in more targeted killings that claimed 22 lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th,  2011.