The incident is a part of the chain murders in the city in which at least 11 doctors have been killed in the past three months.
Unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire at the car of 50-year-old Dr Javed Shakoor in Nazimabad No. 7. The attackers then escaped from the scene while firing shots in the air, causing panic in the area. The doctor was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he breathed his last.
Police said the victim was headed towards his home in Gulshan-e-Iqbal from Baqai Hospital. The doctor ran an orthopaedic institute in Azizabad. His body was handed over to his heirs after medico-legal formalities.
Another doctor, Najam ul Hassan was killed in a similar fashion in Orangi Town on Monday.
Protest
Government hospital doctors and private practitioners held a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday against the killing of doctors and warned that if the government does not take adequate measures for their protection, the medical fraternity across the country will go on strike.
Doctors from the Dow University of Health Sciences, the Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Islamic Medical Association and Private Hospitals Association and medical students participated in the protest.
They said many doctors have left the country because of the ongoing spate of target killings and apparently, the government has no interest in apprehending the culprits responsible for these crimes.
“Extortionists are blackmailing doctors and those who refuse to pay them money are murdered,” said a doctor at the protest. The representatives of the associations said a meeting will be held today (Thursday) to decide a course of action.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2010.
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