I am under threat, believes Dr Shakeel Auj’s son

Hassan Auj’s car windshield was broken by unidentified men

KARACHI: After two unidentified men broke his car's rear windshield on Sunday, Dr Muhammad Hassan Auj, the son of the late Karachi University (KU) Islamic Studies dean Dr Shakeel Auj, who was shot dead in September last year, believes he is under threat.

"Unknown people broke our car's rear windshield at around 6:30pm on Sunday, while it was parked right outside my house in the university's residential area," claimed Hassan. "It is a silent message that if I do not stop my mission to seek justice [for Dr Shakeel's murder], I will be the next target."

According to Hassan, he was sitting at the nearby Sufi Dhaba when he heard the sound of breaking glass. He added that he ran towards his residence and discovered that his car's windshield had been broken with a chisel. "My brother also came out of the house and we saw two persons fleeing on a bike," he said.

Hassan registered a complaint in the Mobina Town police station, demanding security. "I think the attackers were people I knew from the university campus as their faces looked familiar," he wrote in his complaint.

Following the targeted killing of Dr Waheedur Rehman, an assistant professor at KU's mass communications department, on April 29, Hassan had become more active in pursuing his father's case, claiming that he had also collected some evidence about his murder.  Mobina Town SHO Zafar Abbas, however, was of the opinion that the incident was not connected to Dr Shakeel's death. "I think it is too early to come to this conclusion," he said. "Dr Shakeel Auj's case was serious but this incident isn't."

He stated that they had deputed a police officer to investigate the attack and discover the motive behind it, adding that Hassan had not approached the police about any threats earlier.

Meanwhile, KU campus security advisor Dr Muhammad Zubair insisted that anyone who was familiar with the university knew that it was not easy to escape so easily. He further claimed that Hassan had admitted that he had seen some boys trying to steal mangoes from a tree near his house. "Those boys must have mistakenly broken the window while throwing stones or sticks to get fresh mangoes," he believed. Dr Zubair added that Hassan had often complained about suspicious people after his father's death but it was just paranoia on his part.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2015.