Pakistan Bazaar Police Station SHO Nasir Mehmood said that armed motorcyclists opened fire at the victims’ vehicle as they were on their way to the city courts in the morning. PHOTO: FILE
Five people, including a lawyer, a principal of a private school and an activist of a political party, were gunned down in separate incidents of violence in the city on Saturday.
A lawyer and his driver were shot dead by unknown assailants at Islam Chowk, Orangi Town. Pakistan Bazaar Police Station SHO Nasir Mehmood said that armed motorcyclists opened fire at the victims’ vehicle as they were on their way to the city courts in the morning. As a result of the attack, advocate Chaudhry Idrees, 40, and Noman Shah, 35, were critically injured. Both succumbed to their injuries at Qatar Hospital.
The police said that Shah was Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist while ChaudhryIdrees was also a supporter of the party. The lawyer was a resident of Zia Colony, Orangi Town, and also owned a private school. After the attack, unidentified men resorted to aerial firing and forced to close markets and shops in the area.
In a separate incident, the principal of a private school was shot dead while his son was injured when an assailant barged into the school located at Metroville, SITE Town, and opened fire at the victims. The attacker was killed in an encounter with the police immediately after the attack.
According to the police, the attacker barged into Islamia Public School located near Aga Khan flats at Metroville Block 3 and opened fire at 50-year-old Pervez Alavi and his son, Zahid Alavi. SITE SP Fida Hussain said that the police immediately rushed to the school and cordoned it off. The assailant was killed by the police as he was trying to escape. He was identified as Umer.
According to residents of the area, Umer was also a resident of Metroville. It is believed that extortionists were behind the attack and the school principal had already paid Rs400,000 in two instalments. SP Husain refuted, however, the involvement of extortionists. He believed that the reasons behind the attack might be personal as they lived in the same area.
Separately, unidentified assailants gunned down 35-year-old Rizwan Shah at North Karachi Sector 7-D/3, near Gulshan-e-Farooq Masjid. Sir Syed Police Station SHO Jamal Laghari said that the deceased was a reporter of a local monthly magazine, Time Square, and was also associated with a local NGO.
A medical store owner was shot dead and another man was injured when unidentified armed men opened fire at them in Orangi Town. According to SHO Tanveer Murad, 60-year-old Fahim died in the attack while 50-year-old Mohammad Shakil was injured. The incident occurred at Bilal Masjid Road in Sector 6-E of Orangi Town. The police said that the son of the deceased, Fahad, had killed a man, identified as Shahzad, in Orangi Town and fled. They suspect that Shahzad’s family may be behind the attack.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2014.
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