An investigator examines the bullet-ridden sun-screen of the vehicle of JPMC MLO Dr Manzoor Memon, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Delhi Colony on Tuesday. PHOTO: RASHID AJMERI/EXPRESS
A medico-legal officer of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) was shot dead along with his driver in Delhi Colony on Tuesday afternoon.
Dr Manzoor Memon, 50, was on his way home to Badar Commercial, DHA, in his black Toyota Corolla with his 28-year-old driver, Ashiq Hussain, when the incident took place.
Witnesses claim that four men on two motorcycles opened fire at the car. According to a labourer who saw the incident, the assailants rode up and started firing on both sides of the vehicle when the driver did not stop the car. Afterwards, he said, the men escaped by heading towards Punjab Chowrangi. Memon and Ali were shot multiple times and died on the spot. The bodies were taken to JPMC.
The police have not been able to ascertain the motive behind the incident. “It was a targeted attack but we do not know if it was carried out on a professional or personal motive,” said the investigating officer, inspector Nazeer Hussain, while talking to The Express Tribune. “We cannot comment any further. We still have to record the family’s statements first.”
He added that the incident took place as the doctor was returning home after attending a meeting at the hospital about target killings and other issues affecting doctors. The police claim that this was the route Dr Memon followed every day and the assailants were aware of this. They added that 14 empty bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene.
According to his colleagues, Dr Memon, had informed the police about receiving threats but they had not taken any action. “He did not have personal enmities,” said Dr Memon’s colleague, Dr Rohina Hassan. “We were close and he never mentioned any serious threats but said that doctors should have proper security.” She added that he was not looking after any high profile cases but had to appear in Malir court on May 15 for a routine case.
Some 20 days before the incident, however, Memon had submitted an application at the Darakshan police station claiming that some men were driving around his house and monitoring his movement. “I do not remember if he submitted a report or not,” said Darakshan SHO Zawwar Hussain. “I will have to check.”
Grieving for her father
Dr Memon’s family seemed well-aware of the threats. “Why was my father not provided security?” asked his only daughter, Mahrukh, when Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed visited the JPMC. “Ami, I’ll become a doctor,” Mahrukh cried, clinging to her mother at JPMC’s emergency ward. She added that her father had barely escaped the bomb blast that occurred in the same area when he was returning home on April 26.
His wife fell unconscious when she saw the body. She was crying not only for her husband, but also the young driver who had lost his life. The driver, Ashiq Hussain, a father of two young children hailed from Swabi. He had been working for the family for the last five years.
“My husband was tired,” she said. “In the morning when he left for the hospital I told him not to go in and rest but he insisted.” Dr Memon’s colleagues at the hospital were also upset. “This is a great tragedy for us as, today we have lost another member from the doctors’ community,” JPMC’s deputy executive director Dr Seemin Jamali. “We worry about who will be the next target.”
Similar attacks
This is the third incident where the MLO of a hospital has been targeted in the city. The first case took place in 1996 when Dr Zafar of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital was shot dead and then again in 2013, when the MLO of the Qatar Hospital, Dr Irfanullah Qureshi, was killed in Orangi Town.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2014.
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