‘ASWJ member’ gunned down

KARACHI: A 30-year-old businessman, identified as Rehan, was shot dead by unidentified men near Chishtia Mosque within the limits of the Shah Faisal police station on Sunday. SHO Atif Shah said the assailants approached Rehan on two motorcycles as he was headed home after offering prayers at the mosque and opened fire at him near the Abbasia school, killing him on the spot. The police took the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities.

Shah said that Rehan had no affiliations with any political or religious party, which is why it is believed that he was murdered over a financial dispute.

However, a spokesman for the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Ehsanullah Farooqi, claimed that Rehan was an active member of his organisation and also a relative of ASWJ legal adviser Mazharul Hassan, who was killed last year in Aram Bagh.

The police registered a case against the culprits and are further investigating the matter.

In a separate incident, a man, identified as Abdul Sattar, allegedly killed a teenage girl whom he wanted to marry. Initial investigations suggest that the accused killed 14-year-old Zahida because she refused to marry him. Station House Officer (SHO) Mohsin Haider said that Sattar entered Zahida’s house in Dhoraji Colony within the limits of the Bahadurabad police station and killed her after an argument. The body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post mortem after which it was handed over to the family.

Police officials said that the teenage girl hailed from Punjab, Meanwhile, they are trying to find Sattar. However, a case has yet to be registered against him.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2010.