Another religious scholar killed in targeted attack

Maulana Salim Khatri of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat was shot five times by two gunmen

KARACHI:

Another religious scholar, Maulana Salim Khatri of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (AWJ), was gunned down in the metropolitan city on Wednesday, a day after Maulana Abdul Qayyum Sufi Naqshbandi of the Sunni Ulema Council was killed in a targeted attack.

Four gunmen riding on two motorcycles shot and killed Maulana Khatri in Sector 5-E of New Karachi in the remits of Bilal Colony police station, according to police and witnesses. The 58-year-old cleric was sitting at a pan-shop at 3pm near his house when he was targeted.

Acting SP for New Karachi Kunwar Asif told the media that Maulana Khatri was pronounced dead on arrival at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was shifted after the shooting. He was shot five times, while police have found seven empties of 9mm pistols at the crime scene, SP Asif said. “We are obtaining footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the area,” he added.

Bilal Colony police station SHO Aftab Abbasi confirmed that the assailants were four in number but only two of them opened fire on Maulana Khatri. He added that the incident appeared to be a targeted attack.

Footage from one CCTV camera that has been shared on social media shows two men, who are believed to be attackers, running out of the area. Witnesses say that the attackers crossed the road where two motorcycles with their riders were waiting for them.

A large number of ASWJ leaders and workers arrived at the hospital after the news of the attack broke. They said “anti-state elements” were ruining Karachi's peace while the rulers were unable to maintain law and order. ASWJ's General Secretary Taj Muhammad Hanfi said that the funeral of the slain leader would be held at 10pm.

Meanwhile, protesters blocked the highway near the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth where Maulana Khatri's body was taken from the hospital after medico-legal formalities. The protest, which disrupted the traffic flow for some time, was ended after police assured the protesters that those responsible would be brought to justice.

The targeted shooting came a day after Maulana Abdul Qayyum Sufi Naqshbandi of the Sunni Ulema Council was shot dead while walking back home from mosque after Fajr prayers in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Mufti Muneebur Rehman, while speaking at Maulana Sufi's funeral, said that the “construction mafia” could be possibly involved in the murder.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2023.