Shutter-down strike against killing of BNP leader

Markets closed, security remains on high alert in various cities.

QUETTA:

Shutter-down strike was observed in several cities of Balochistan on Saturday in protest against the murder of Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader Jumma Khan Raisani.

Raisani was murdered along with three other people in Khuzdar on Friday when he was on his way home after offering Friday prayers.

The BNP and Balochistan Student Organisation called for a shutter-down strike to protest his killing.

Markets remain closed in Khazdar, Karkh, Zahri, Wudh, Hab, Mastung areas while security remains on high alert.

Updated from print version (below)

Balochistan unrest: BNP leader among four shot dead in Khuzdar

Senior leader of Balochistan National Party (BNP) Jumma Khan Raisani was shot dead on Friday along with his two guards and a driver in the Gizigi area of Khuzdar.

According to police, Raisani was on his way home after offering Friday prayers when unidentified men opened fire on his vehicle. The BNP leader, his two security guards identified as Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Zareef and driver Mohammad Baksh died on the spot.

“Initial investigations suggest that the assailants were already lurking near Khuzdar Degree College and ambushed the BNP leader,” a senior police officer said.

Bodies of the victims were taken to District Headquarters Hospital for autopsy. Hospital officials said the victims were hit by the bullets in their heads and chests.

“It could be a case of targeted killing,” an official said, adding that Raisani was also a government contractor. As many as two dozen leaders and activists of BNP have been killed in incidents of targeted killings in recent years.

According to locals, an organisation named Baloch Musala Defa Army claimed responsibility for the incident.

Spokesperson of the outfit, who introduced himself as Mir Jang Baloch, said his organisation had carried out this attack, warning  more would follow.

The same group has earlier claimed responsibility for killing Baloch missing persons whose bullet-riddled bodies were found dumped in different areas of the province.

Meanwhile, BNP has called for a shutter-down strike in Khuzdar, Mastung, Lasbela and Kalat districts for today (Saturday) to protest the killing. The party has also announced five days of mourning.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2011.