Prayer leader shot and injured

PESHAWAR: A man was shot and injured on Dalazak Road in the jurisdiction of Hashtnagari police station on Sunday afternoon. Police said Mujeeb Ali alias Hadiul Hassan, a resident of Orakzai Agency, was a prayer leader and worked as a schoolteacher in Chamkani.

“He went out with his children on Sunday and was shot in the shoulder,” said an official of the police station, adding that the incident took place near the railway lines in Hashtnagri.

“We have registered an FIR. He belongs to the Shia sect and the attack could be sectarian violence, but we are still investigating,” he said. Target killings have been on the rise in the provincial capital.

Bank employee Ali Raza was shot dead near the main gate of his residence in Hayatabad Phase 1 on Thursday. Police claimed this was a sectarian attack as he was a prominent Shia.

On September 17, Ali Haider, an employee of Peshawar Central Prison was also shot dead in Sarki, near Shah Qabool police station. He also belonged to the same community.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2014.