Attacking the defenders : 2 policemen gunned down

Former SHO was shot dead in his family quarters in the New Karachi police lines.

KARACHI:

A police officer and former SHO was gunned down inside his house within the jurisdiction of New Karachi police early Sunday morning.

Forty-one-year-old Zulfiqar Qaimkhani was shot and killed in the New Karachi police family quarters. The area houses not just the quarters but the New Karachi police station and the superintendent’s office as well. Although policemen are deployed at entry and exit points of the police lines, nobody saw any suspects.

Qaimkhani’s brother, Shamsher, said he found out about the incident when his sister-in-law called him. “She said he was lying injured in the gallery when she found him.” By the time Shamsher got to the house, Qaimkhani had died. The bereaved brother believes it was a target killing. He alleged that the suspects were already in the house when his brother entered and they must have used a silencer because otherwise someone would have heard a gunshot.

Qaimkhani had been serving the police for the last 20 years.

The police officer was also part of the operations in the 1990s. He was posted to New Karachi, along with former SHOs Taufeeq Zahid and Zeeshan Kazmi, who both died in alleged incidents of target killings earlier.

During that operation, New Karachi was a hot spot, where many activists of a political party were allegedly tortured and killed. Although Qaimkhani was part of a team that operated against the political party workers, “he did not play a vital role”, said Shamsher. Nor did his brother ever mention any disputes or enemies.

Qaimkhani was shot when he came back home after offering Fajr prayers. A policeman said he did not go back home immediately after the prayers. “He would often spend some time talking to other policemen after Fajr,” he added. After around an hour-and-a-half, the policemen heard about his death.

The neighbours and policemen gathered at the house when they heard Qaimkhani’s wife screaming. The victim was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

SP Zafar Iqbal Malik told The Express Tribune that a case has been lodged and a team headed by him and SP Investigations has also been formed.

SI Zulfiqar Qaimkhani had been posted to several police stations in the city, including Sharifabad, Bilal Colony, Khwaja Ajmir Nagri, New Karachi and New Karachi Industrial Area. At present, he was working at the security zone, west. He was had been transferred here from Bilal Colony police station (where he was the SHO) two-and-a-half months ago.

New Karachi SHO Kamal Naseem said that the deceased was not working on any sensitive cases at present but he might have been killed over a previous case.

Qaimkhani hailed from rural Sindh. He is survived by a wife and six children.

His funeral prayers were offered in the mosque located in police lines. He was laid to rest at the Orangi Town graveyard.

FIR No. 82/11 was registered against unidentified persons on behalf of Shamsher.

Meanwhile, a head constable was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on the National Highway in Shah Latif police station limits on Sunday evening. Ali Buksh, 36, was the resident of Hassan Goth in Bin Qasim Town and was posted at the Sukkhan police station. SHO Mulazim Hussain told The Express Tribune that two armed men riding a motorcycle shot and killed the victim near Jogi Morr. He was shot twice, SHO Hussain added.

The police termed the incident target killing. The deceased hailed from interior Sindh. His body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for an autopsy. No case has been registered yet.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2011.