KARACHI: Violence erupts as doctor killed in Malir: Rail traffic disrupted
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, Aug 16: Violence broke out in various areas of Malir after a doctor was shot dead by assailants on Saturday. During the violence, an elderly man was also gunned down.
Following the doctor’s killing, agitating people blocked the National Highway for vehicular traffic and staged a sit-in on the railway track, where the train traffic remained suspended till late Saturday evening.
According to the police and a few witnesses, four armed men on two motorcycles opened fire at Dr Ibne Hasan, while he was alighting from his car after reaching at the Hasan Clinic at Malir-15 bus stop at around 11:30am. The armed men fled away leaving him in a pool of blood.
Dr Hasan, who was very popular among the area people, was taken to a private hospital, where he died.
Inspector-general of police Syed Kamal Shah told Dawn, “It is a sectarian killing. We are investigating into the case and as in the past, we have detected many such sort of cases, we will trace the killers in this case too.”
He said that some elements appeared on roads and forced shopkeepers to close down their shutters after the murder. The eighty-year-old, Wajih Haider, who refused to close his shop, was shot dead in protest. His body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, he added.
However, the area people disputed the police claim while saying that Wajih Haider was sitting in his general store near Jinnah Square in Malir, when he was made target of terrorism.
Witnesses said the Rangers post was located at the rooftop of the building, where the incident took place. However, the Rangers and the police did not make any effort to nab the killers, they added.
Dr Hasan used to provide free medical treatment to the poor, which had made him popular in the area. Many people were seen beating their heads and chests to mourn his death.
Agitating people blocked the National Highway for vehicular traffic, as they set old tyres ablaze at different places on the thoroughfare.
To disperse the angry mob, police fired teargas shells on the National Highway, which aggravated the situation and clashes between the police and the angry mob began. Two cars, a motorcycle and a bank branch were reportedly set on fire by the furious protesters.
Although the clashes between police and protesters were controlled by the Saturday evening, the main artery from Malir bridge to Malir Halt remained closed for vehicular traffic till our going to the Press.
The negotiations of the area representatives, Chacha Waheed and Mehmood Akhtar with DIG operations Tariq Jamil were not successful till Saturday evening. The area representatives demanded that the negotiations would now take place with the governor.
They demanded the arrest of the killers within 12 hours and removal of the Rangers post from the building, where the incident took place, as the Rangers had failed to contain the terrorist incident.
Meanwhile, the trains were stopped due to the sit-in by the protesters on the main railway track in Malir.
The DS Railways, Asrar Alvi, said that the train traffic remained suspended since noon. He said that many trains approaching the city from upcountry had been stopped at various railway stations including Dhabeji, Jhang, etc. Similarly, the trains, scheduled to leave the city, were also stopped.
