Sectarian violence: Bank manager killed on I I Chundigar Road

Two bodies with torture marks found in North Nazimabad and Lyari.

KARACHI:

The authorities suspect that the chief manager of a bank located on I I Chundrigar Road was shot dead in the City Railway parking lot on Saturday because of sectarian violence within the limits of the City Railway police station.

A driver, who witnessed the incident claims that as soon as Rizvi got out of his car, a 35-year-old clean-shaven man dressed in shalwar kameez stepped in front of him and shot him twice. “After the first bullet went through his chest and the man pointed the gun beneath his ear and shot a bullet through his head,” he said. The driver added that the man had been present in the parking lot before 8:20 am.

Out of sheer habit, Rizvi used to park his blue coloured Liana in the railway parking lot because of the lack of parking space available on I I Chundrigar Road. After parking his car in the City Railway Station parking lot an unidentified armed man shot 52-year-old Muntazir Ali Mehdi Rizvi in the chest and head. His body was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. SHO Habibullah Khattak added that Rizvi had been shot with a 9 mm pistol as the police found two empty bullet shells near the crime scene.

“It could be a case of sectarian violence but nothing can be said till the investigation is complete,” said additional IG Saud Mirza. He added that as the incident took place within the limits of the railway police station, the district police would assist them.

Khattak added that the police was trying to determine the exact number of people involved in the murder. “The police are trying to find CCTV footage of the incident as there are security cameras installed around the area but have been unsuccessful so far,” he said. “We are going to ask the witness to describe the man and make a sketch to help the investigation.”

Rizvi leaves behind a wife and four children. They claim that he was the trustee of the Shareekatul Hussain Imambargah.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Anti-Extremist Cell chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan suggested that the unidentified man must have been aware of Rizvi’s daily activities. “He [Rizvi] could have been killed over a sectarian matter, one of the banned religious groups could be behind it,” he said.

An FIR (No. 23/11) was registered at the City Railway police station on behalf of the state. The police claim that his family was in mourning and did not cooperate. The unidentified body of a man was found in North Nazimabad in a gunny bag while another body was found in Mira Naka, Lyari. Both bodies had torture marks on them.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2011.