Two ASWJ workers shot dead in 24 hours

Sectarian killings continued in the city with two activists of Ahle Sunnat wal Jammat were gunned down in 24 hours.

KARACHI: Sectarian killings continued in the city with two activists of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jammat (ASWJ) being gunned down in 24 hours.

The two murders took place after the firing incident at a Youm-e-Ali procession last week, in which at least four members of the Shia sect were injured.

Ghayasud Din was shot dead early Monday morning in Lines Area near the CDGK parking plaza, which falls in the jurisdiction of the Brigade police station. According to police officials and the ASWJ spokesperson, Ghayasud Din was ambushed in front of Makki Mosque.

“The family said he had gone to drop his children to school,” officials at the Brigade police station said. The deceased was a father of four.

Ahsanullah Farooqui, a spokesperson for the ASWJ, said that Ghayasud Din was the party president for Lines Area. He described the murder as a ‘target killing’.

The police moved Ghayasud Din’s body to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for an autopsy. According to Dr Farhat, he was shot four times. Following the attack, members of the ASWJ took to the streets. They blocked the road in Lines Area and burnt tyres, suspending traffic on several roads, including MA Jinnah Road, for over two hours. They also shouted slogans against the government and demanded the arrest of the killers. The protesters dispersed after a heavy contingent of police and Rangers asked them to end the protest.

ASWJ Sindh president Maulana Orangzaib Farooqui led the funeral prayers in Model Colony on Monday evening. “They [government] know who the killers are but they are hesitant to arrest them,” Farooqui told The Express Tribune. He demanded that the police arrest those behind the target killings.

Earlier, another activist of the ASWJ, 30-year-old Rehan, was killed on his way home. He was returning after offering evening prayers at Chishtia Mosque in No. 4, Shah Faisal Colony. According to the police, two armed men on separate motorcycles attacked him near Abbasia School.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2010.