Gunned down: Two brothers, both lawyers, slain in drive-by shooting

Police rule out sectarian motive, lawyers boycott courts.

KARACHI:

In what is believed to be another case of target killing, two brothers — both lawyers — were gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Mauripur on Saturday. Altaf Hussain, 41, and Nazar Abbas, 33, were on their way to the City Courts in their car when men intercepted them around 8 am. The culprits opened fire, killing them instantly and then fled.

“They were dead before we reached the site,” SHO Nasarullah Khan told The Express Tribune. “Multiple bullet wounds were found.” The victims were taken to Civil hospital. The motive behind the shooting is still unclear. There were no witnesses which is complicating the investigation, said police officials.

The victims lived near Jamia Masjid Akbar in Musharraf Colony. “The incident occurred shortly after they left their house,” said SHO Khan. “They were shot at the corner of their street.” He said the police have not approached the victims’ families yet and are waiting for the initial trauma to subside. “No witnesses have come forward but we urge the public to provide information so that the case can make some headway.”

The profession of the deceased brothers have led the police to believe that they could have been murdered due to the sensitive nature of cases that they were dealing with. “Altaf was handling some land disputes,” said Khan. However, the SHO was quick to add that nothing could be finalised until the investigations were complete.

The police have also ruled out any possible sectarian motive behind the incident. “We have not received any evidence pointing to a sectarian murder,” said Keamari SP Tariq Mughal.

He said the victim’s brother had indicated to him that the family did not have any enmity with anyone. He said that the culprits had used 9mm pistols and that the brothers had been shot from close range. The funeral prayers of the brothers were offered in the Mehfil-e-Shah-e-Khorasan imambargah. The bodies were flown to Chakwal, Punjab, where the deceased hailed from.

Lawyers boycott

Black coats boycotted court proceedings on Saturday afternoon after the two lawyers were gunned down.

They have decided to continue their boycott on Monday. It was also decided that a general body meeting would be held at Karachi Bar Association at 10 am to be followed by a representative meeting at the Sindh High Court Bar Association where the lawyers will decide their course of action, Honorary Secretary of KBA Haider Imam Rizvi told The Express Tribune.

After the meeting, the lawyers at the Sindh High Court will proceed to Governor House to present a memorandum.

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ZEESHAN MUJAHID



Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2011.