Unabated violence: MQM legislator, son killed in targeted attack
Taliban claim responsibility; MQM announces three-day mourning.
Brothers of MPA Sajid Qureshi comfort each other at a morgue. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
A legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and his young son were killed in a drive-by shooting in the congested North Nazimabad neighbourhood of Karachi on Friday – a day which also saw the killing of 13 other people in violence elsewhere in the metropolis.
Mohammad Sajid Qureshi, in his early 50s, and his 27-year-old son were targeted by three gunmen as they left a local mosque, Masjid-e-Huda, after offering Friday prayers in Block-B area of North Nazimabad.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed credit for the killings of Sajid Qureshi, a member of the Sindh Assembly, and his son Waqas.
The gunmen were standing near a motorcycle. One of them opened fire on Qureshi and then turned his gun on his son, Waqas, who tried to save his father. “As soon as the gunman started firing, his accomplices escaped,” eyewitness Faisal Imran told The Express Tribune. “The shooter also managed to escape in the end.”
Police prepared the sketch of the shooter with the help of eyewitnesses.
“The attack took place a little before the MQM was to announce whether the party should join the Sindh government or not. Apparently, the killings were aimed at sabotaging relations between MQM and the Pakistan Peoples Party,” said DIG Zafar Bukhari.
However, TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the double murder in a phone call to The Express Tribune from an undisclosed location. The group had also mounted attacks on the MQM in the run-up to the May 11 elections for its secular policies.
A heavy contingent of police and paramilitary Rangers reached the crime scene as investigators collected evidence. They found the slippers of one of the gunmen. They believe the gunmen could have escaped towards Khandu Goth, an area dominated by Lyari gangsters, or Mujahid Colony.
The bodies of the deceased were shifted to Ziauddin Hospital where members of MQM’s Coordination Committee, including Saleem Siddiqi, Amir Khan and Khalid Sultan, and the victims’ relatives were present.
The MQM was set to announce the results of a referendum the party held on Thursday to find out whether or not it should join the Sindh government. The party leadership, however, postponed the announcement due to Friday’s killings.
“We were ready to announce the results but this utterly sad incident compelled us to postpone the announcement,” said Engr Nasir Jamal, deputy convenor of the Coordination Committee, told The Express Tribune.
Sajid Qureshi was elected to the Sindh Assembly from PS-103 for the first time in the May 11 elections. He has left behind a widow, two sons and a daughter to mourn his death. The MQM announced three- day mourning across the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2013.
A legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and his young son were killed in a drive-by shooting in the congested North Nazimabad neighbourhood of Karachi on Friday – a day which also saw the killing of 13 other people in violence elsewhere in the metropolis.
Mohammad Sajid Qureshi, in his early 50s, and his 27-year-old son were targeted by three gunmen as they left a local mosque, Masjid-e-Huda, after offering Friday prayers in Block-B area of North Nazimabad.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed credit for the killings of Sajid Qureshi, a member of the Sindh Assembly, and his son Waqas.
The gunmen were standing near a motorcycle. One of them opened fire on Qureshi and then turned his gun on his son, Waqas, who tried to save his father. “As soon as the gunman started firing, his accomplices escaped,” eyewitness Faisal Imran told The Express Tribune. “The shooter also managed to escape in the end.”
Police prepared the sketch of the shooter with the help of eyewitnesses.
“The attack took place a little before the MQM was to announce whether the party should join the Sindh government or not. Apparently, the killings were aimed at sabotaging relations between MQM and the Pakistan Peoples Party,” said DIG Zafar Bukhari.
However, TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the double murder in a phone call to The Express Tribune from an undisclosed location. The group had also mounted attacks on the MQM in the run-up to the May 11 elections for its secular policies.
A heavy contingent of police and paramilitary Rangers reached the crime scene as investigators collected evidence. They found the slippers of one of the gunmen. They believe the gunmen could have escaped towards Khandu Goth, an area dominated by Lyari gangsters, or Mujahid Colony.
The bodies of the deceased were shifted to Ziauddin Hospital where members of MQM’s Coordination Committee, including Saleem Siddiqi, Amir Khan and Khalid Sultan, and the victims’ relatives were present.
The MQM was set to announce the results of a referendum the party held on Thursday to find out whether or not it should join the Sindh government. The party leadership, however, postponed the announcement due to Friday’s killings.
“We were ready to announce the results but this utterly sad incident compelled us to postpone the announcement,” said Engr Nasir Jamal, deputy convenor of the Coordination Committee, told The Express Tribune.
Sajid Qureshi was elected to the Sindh Assembly from PS-103 for the first time in the May 11 elections. He has left behind a widow, two sons and a daughter to mourn his death. The MQM announced three- day mourning across the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2013.