Doctor shot dead in Lyari

He was returning home from clinic when he was targeted

KARACHI: A doctor was killed in a firing incident in the restive Lyari neighbourhood on Friday.

Police officials said that two armed motorcyclists were behind the incident. However, they added, the motive behind the incident has yet to be ascertained.

The incident occurred in Khadda Market area of Lyari that falls within the jurisdiction of the Baghdadi police station. The deceased was identified as 36-year-old Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mandhro, son of Ali Muhammad. Police officials said that the deceased was a general physician and used to run a clinic near his house. They added that the incident took place when he was returning home after closing his clinic late Thursday night.



"At least two armed men riding a motorcycle intercepted him when he reached close to his house," said an inquiry officer, Muhammad Iqbal. Upon hue and cry, the victim's wife and a minor son also reached the main gate of the house, he said. "The culprits first stabbed him with a knife and asked his family to open the gate otherwise they will shoot the doctor but the family did not open the gate as the doctor insisted so," he explained while quoting the initial investigation.

The culprits later escaped after shooting him, said Iqbal. He was critically injured and taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for treatment, from where the family shifted him to a private hospital in Bahadurabad as they felt the doctors at the Civil Hospital were not treating him well.

The injured doctor succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the hospital in Bahadurabad Friday morning. The body was later handed over to his family.



Police officials said the deceased was living with his third wife as he had divorced two women earlier. The officer said that the actual motive behind the killing has yet to be ascertained.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons while further investigation was underway.

Authorities in 2015 had claimed to have arrested a South Africa-based gang allegedly involved in extortion and killings of doctors in the metropolitan city.