Sectarian killing: Local prayer leader gunned down in Rawalpindi

Nasir Abbasi of the ASWJ was killed while Mufti Ishtiaq was severely injured.

RAWALPINDI: A unit incharge of Ahle Sunnat Wahl Jamaat (ASWJ) was killed while another was injured when unidentified armed opened fire on them in Shamsabad area of Rawalpindi.

According to details, ASWJ unit incharge and prayer leader at a mosque in Tarnol, Nasir Abbasi son of Ramzan Abbasi, was killed while Mufti Ishtiaq was injured when unidentified armed men riding on motorcycle opened on them in the jurisdiction of police station Sadiqabad on Thursday.

Police said Abbasi and Ishtiaq were going home on a motorcycle after attending a seminar organised by ASWJ Rawalpindi chapter at Sangam Marriage Hall when two assailants, also riding on motorcycle, intercepted near Shamsabad. The assailants shot at them and fled.

Abbasi died on the spot while Ishtiaq sustained severe bullet injuries. Both were shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH).

The doctors described Ishtiaq's condition as serious and were operating on him to save his life.

A heavy contingent of police including City Police Officer Humayun Bashir Tarar, SP CIA Haroon Joya and ASP Syed Zeeshan Haider reached the crime scene. They later visited BBH as well.

ASWJ activists staged a demonstration at BBH to condemn the killing, calling it “a cowardly act of terrorism.”

“Yes, it is sectarian killing. Nasir Abbasi and his companion were attacked by two gunmen riding on a bike” said CPO Tarar while talking to media.

This was not the first time that Abbasi had come under attack. On March 11 he was accompanying Mufti Tanveer of ASWJ when they came under heavy gunfire in Shakrial. Two people had died in that attack.

The CPO said, “We are investigating the killing from different angles and will arrest the killers soon.”