KARACHI, Sept 25: Deputy Convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Aftab Shaikh on Wednesday disclosed that top leaders of his party have been receiving death threats, which he said could be part of a conspiracy to sabotage the elections.

Addressing a news conference, during which he condemned the killing of people connected with a Christian NGO — Idara-i-Amn-o-Insaf — Shaikh disclosed that besides him, the other Deputy Conveners — Nasreen Jaleel, Dr Farooq Sattar and Shoaib Bokhari, and PS-98 and PS-100 candidates Bilqees Mukhtar and Adil Siddiqui were also threatened.

He expressed concern over the growing incidence of terrorism ahead of the Oct 10 elections, and said that such incidents give rise to apprehensions that certain forces were deliberately trying to sabotage the elections.

Aftab Shaikh, who was flanked by Nasreen Jaleel, Shoaib Bokhari, Kunwar Khalid Yunus, Babar Ghori and others, emphasized that despite such unfortunate incidents, the elections should be held, and political the dispensation must reach its logical conclusion.

In fact, boycotting the elections on such provocations seems to be the objective of those who carried out such a cold blooded murder.

Nasreen Jaleel said that question to ponder is why has Karachi again been targeted by the terrorists? She said that some elements had targeted Christians to make them feel insecure and to destroy the peace of Karachi.

Shaikh said the manner in which the killing was carried out in the office of Idara-i-Amn-o-Insaf proved that the killers were highly trained and were knowledgeable about the locale.

He said that such incidents only tarnish the image of Pakistan, and added that the killing of peace loving citizens, despite the presence of various agencies responsible for maintaining law and order, was a matter of grave concern.

He also alleged that some religious parties and groups, and the Haqiqi, enjoying the patronage of intelligence agencies, were trying to provoke the Muttahida.