Muhammad Faisal and his son were waiting for a school van when the incident occurred. STOCK IMAGE
Muhammad Yousuf, the 36-year-old son of Muhammad Safdar, was shot dead in an act of targeted killing in front of his young son near their house within the limits of Yousuf Plaza police station. According to witnesses and family members, Faisal had gone out of his residence in Federal B Area Block 16 to drop his nine-year-old son Muhammad Ali at the school van stop.
“Both [the victim and his son] were standing at the street-corner awaiting the school van when two armed motorcyclists wearing helmets opened fire at Faisal,” said an area watchman. “They [the culprits] left after they were sure that he was dead.”
Witnesses added that some men in a jeep were also present near the crime scene, seeming acting as backup for the assailants. The body of the deceased was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy and later handed over to his family for burial.
Ali remained unhurt but was traumatised by the incident. The victim’s family said that Faisal was a software engineer employed by a computers firm in Saudi Arabia. They added that he had arrived in the city on vacation to visit his family three days ago.
The family also ruled out the possibility of Faisal being affiliated with any party. “We believe that he was killed in a case of mistaken identity because he had no enmity with anyone or connections to any party,” said his cousin Ahsan Iftikhar.
Police officials, meanwhile, said that the deceased was shot at least 18 times. They added that they had been unable to ascertain the motive behind the killing as yet.
“I do not believe that this was a case of mistaken identity,” said SHO Akram Arain. “It seems as if the culprits expressed their hatred by shooting him at least 18 times.” The officer added that empty bullet shells had been collected from the crime scene to be sent to the forensic division.
A case has been registered against unidentified persons, while further investigation is underway.
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