Unclear motives: Nine detained for attack on lawyer

Six men gunned down and six injured in the city on Friday.

KARACHI:

In what appears to be another sectarian attack, lawyer Mirza Waqar Hussain Naqvi was injured while on his way to the Sindh High Court on Friday.

Police said that the 70-year-old man was not a criminal lawyer and handled civil cases. Initial investigation did not link the attack to any personal enmity or to Naqvi’s profession and the police suspect it to be a sectarian attack. Naqvi was Ahle Tasheeh or Shia.

The lawyer was accompanied by his driver Zubair Khan, who was unharmed. Khan told the police that four men on two motorcycles opened fire at their car on Jahangir Road.

Naqvi was taken to Aga Khan Hospital where doctors said that he was in critical condition. SHO Khushnood Javed said that he was shot six times in the upper torso at point-blank range with 9mm pistols. The police reportedly found at least seven shells at the crime scene.

A case against unidentified men has been registered on the complaint of Naqvi’s son Zahid Abbas and police have already detained at least nine suspects during separate raids. SSP Investigation District East Khawaja Naveed told The Express Tribune that weapons were also found in possession of the suspects, who are believed to belong to Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.

On the same day, funeral prayers for 35-year-old Ejaz Haider Rizvi, who was gunned down on Thursday evening, was offered at the imambargah in Ancholi.

Rizvi, who used to teach at a private English language centre, was killed when men opened fire on him in the New Karachi. His family and friends held a protest, leading to a traffic jam on main Shahrah-e-Pakistan. He was laid to rest at Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard on the superhighway.

Killings

Two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Farooq and Rashid, were injured in an attack in Orangi Town, adding to the violence of the day. Police said that both victims were associated with the MQM’s unit 118-A, Orangi Town sector.

Three relatives, 34-year-old Zeeshan, 28-year-old Mohammed Idrees and 30-year-old Imran Ameen, were gunned down and two others, Ahmed and Shahbaz, were injured in an attack in Gulzar-e-Hijri. According to police, men opened indiscriminate fire on the victims when they were having tea at the roadside.

According to SHO Azhar Ali Iqbal, Idrees’s brother, Shahid, was found dead from Mewa Shah graveyard a couple of days ago after he was kidnapped and killed. The motive has yet to be confirmed but police believe that the same men were behind the two attacks.

The body of a young man, who was shot dead after being kidnapped, was found in a gunny bag from Nazimabad No 1. The body has been moved to the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth for identification.

In Lyari, 26-year-old Ghulam Ali, son of Ramzan Ali, was gunned down. Police officials said that he lived in Risala and used to work at a betel nut shop in Kharadar. Ghulam hailed from the Punjab and according to police, had no affiliation with political or religious organisations.

Rafiq aka Pappu, 26, son of Ibrahim Kutchi was shot dead at Khadda market in Lyari. SHO Haji Sanaullah said that the deceased had a criminal record and was recently released from jail. According to the officer, Pappu was killed in a fight. Both sides opened fire but Pappu was wounded while the other managed to escape.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2012.