Targeted attacks: Lawyer, ex-PPP councillor shot dead

Courts closed as lawyers boycott proceedings.

KARACHI:

A Sindh High Court (SHC) lawyer and a former Pakistan Peoples Party councillor were shot dead in separate incidents on Tuesday.

The latest victim brings the number of lawyers killed in Karachi in the past couple of years to about 18.

In what police are calling a targeted attack, 41-year-old Waheedur Rehman Qureshi was shot dead by armed men on motorcycles near Café Liberty when he was on his way home in Kehkashan Society early on Tuesday morning.

He was rushed to Jinnah hospital but did not survive the trip, succumbing to six close-range gunshot wounds. Khalil Jaffery, the victim’s advocate, registered a case, FIR No. 734/11, while his body was taken to Naushahro Feroz.

According to SHO Ejaz Khawaja, the lawyer was returning from a visit to Azizabad. He refused to elaborate on a possible connection to previous killings of lawyers in Karachi, claiming it was too early into the investigation to tell. “The police have contacted other police stations to share information,” said Khawaja. “The shooters probably used a small weapon, probably a 9mm.” They are also gathering details of Qureshi’s last case, he added.

Separately, Gul Hasan, a former Pakistan Peoples Party councillor, was gunned down outside his house in Shanti Nagar, Dalmia Colony in a drive-by shooting.

SHO Ehsanullah believes this attack may involve the drug mafia as initial investigations suggest that Hasan had a dispute with notorious drug peddlers, Nasir, Babu and Razzak from a Lyari gang. These men are also wanted by the police.

Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan took notice of the killings and ordered the police to arrest the attackers.

Courts closed in protest

Lawyers boycotted work at the City Courts complex and Malir court while hundreds of cases at the SHC were adjourned after the tea break.

Karachi Bar Association (KBCA) and Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and the newly elected Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president went to the Sindh High Court Chief Justice complaining of the latest bout of violence against lawyers. The CJ is heading a review committee regarding killings in Karachi on Supreme Court orders. The KBA general body passed a resolution to write a letter to the SHC Chief Justice regarding the killing and demanding security for lawyers.

SCBA president Yasin Azad called on the SHC CJ and informed him of the incident and the police’s inability to protect lawyers. The CJ assured him that he would look into the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2011.