KARACHI: Lawyer shot at in Landhi dies from wounds
By Imran Ayub
KARACHI, Sept 16: A senior member of the Karachi Bar Association, who was attacked by gunmen near his Landhi residence last week, died in a private hospital here on Sunday.
Ateeq Ahmed Qadri, resident of the 37-A area in Landhi-4, was seriously wounded on Sept 13 when two men pretending to be prospective clients wanting to discuss some legal points called him out of home
and opened fire on him
with pistols.
The 49-year-old lawyer received six bullets in the head, face, chest and thigh. Mr Qadri is the second lawyer killed in a week, as on Sept 10, Raja Mohammed Riaz, believed to be an active campaigner against presidential reference and the May 12 incidents, was killed by unknown assailants.
Father of six, Mr Qadri had a 25-year standing in the profession and enjoyed a good reputation in the Landhi area, where he was known as an active social worker.
Meanwhile, the Landhi police have registered an FIR (166/07) against unknown killers on the complaint of the victim’s younger brother. A large number of lawyers, including KBA members, attended Mr Qadri’s funeral.
Courts’ boycott
The incident sparked serious reaction from the legal fraternity, which decided to boycott court proceedings on Monday.
The recent attacks on lawyers have pressed their leaders to take a strong note of the situation and they have demanded early arrest of the killers and warned of continued protest.
The legal fraternity, which earlier postponed its proposed sit-in before the Sindh chief secretary’s office till Sept 22 on the assurance of police officers that people involved in the killing of Advocate Raja Riaz would be soon apprehended, prepares itself for a fresh protest.
“We have called a general body meeting tomorrow (Monday) to decide our future action plan,” said Naeem Qureshi, general secretary of the KBA. “The recent killing of lawyers is an attempt to scare the community by the establishment. But we are very well aware of these tactics and not afraid of such terrorist attacks.”
He said the lawyers’ protest had been peaceful and no untoward incident was witnessed during the last several months but the government had failed to provide security to them.
“Lawyers’ lives are under threat across the city and we have to decide what is to be done about it,” said Mr Qureshi.He said the legal fraternity was already in shock over the daylight assassination of Raja Riaz, when Mr Qadri was killed in a cold-blooded manner.
“We have asked fellow lawyers to maintain unity in their ranks with utmost patience to foil anti-judiciary conspiracies,” he added.
Senior police officials, including Saddar Town Police Officer Capt Tahir Naveed, held a meeting with KBA office-bearers last week and assured them that investigation into the murder had been initiated on a priority basis and requested for giving police an opportunity to complete the process.
The Sindh Bar Council has already rejected police assurance about the investigation into the Raja Riaz murder case, saying that no good could be expected from the police in the prevailing circumstances.
“The attacks we have witnessed against lawyers so far are targeted and should be taken seriously by the security agencies and the authorities,” added Mr Qureshi.
