KARACHI: Bandits shoot man to death

Published February 3, 2003

KARACHI, Feb 2: An expatriate was killed in the city on the very day he returned to the country, during an apparent robbery in Soldier Bazaar on Sunday.

The police said four armed men entered the house where Ziaul Qamar was staying, held the occupants of the house hostage and tied them.

“Before taking people hostage the armed men had asked them as to who has come from abroad,” an investigator told Dawn.

As the bandits were fleeing from the house with 200 Saudi riyals and electronic items, one of the four bandits, who had his faced covered, took Ziaul Qamar into the next room and shot him in the chest, the police said.

The bandits escaped in a vehicle (U-4690) parked at the house, the police said.

Ziaul Qamar died on the way to Civil Hospital.

The police said Ziaul Qamar, aged 50, was a professor of mathematics at King Fahd University, Dahran, Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday morning he arrived here with his 18-year-old daughter.

His son Owais, who is studying medicine in Lahore, was also there at the airport to receive his father.

They hired a cab and went straight to Mewashah graveyard to offer Fateha at the grave of Ziaul Qamar’s wife.

Around 10:15am they arrived at the house (No 323) of Ziaul Qamar’s in-laws in Garden West. Hardly 15 minutes after their arrival there four armed men entered the house.

The police said Ziaul Qamar was to leave on Monday for Sialkot, his hometown.

Ziaul Qamar’s wife also taught at the same university. She died more than a year ago.

A senior police officer told Dawn that neither Ziaul Qamar nor his children had put up any resistance to the armed men, which created doubts about the motive for the killing.

SUICIDE: A young man committed suicide in Federal B Area late Saturday night.

The police said Stevens, aged 25, was a drug addict. He hanged himself from a ceiling fan at his house.

The body was sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for post-mortem.

DIE: A young woman was found dead in her apartment at North Nazimabad late Saturday night.

The police said neighbours informed them of stench coming from the apartment in Bhayani Square.

The body was sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for post-mortem. Sources at the hospital said the woman died of electrocution.

The police said the woman was operating washing machine when she was electrocuted and died.

A South Korean national died on a ship docked at Korangi Fish Harbour late Saturday night.

The police said an engineer, Kimumji, died on board a fishing vessel. His colleagues said he fell ill during the trip.

The body was sent to the JPMC for post-mortem, where the report has been reserved till the receipt of histopathological report.

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