– File Photo

KARACHI: A 55-year-old professor of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Friday night was shot dead in front of his wife and driver in the Defence Housing Authority in what police described as a car snatching attempt.

A professor of microbiology and currently heading the microbiology department at the Basic Medical Science Institute (BMSI) of the JPMC, Prof Saleem Ahmed Kharal was the brother of a Pakistan People’s Party lawmaker from Khairpur, Naeem Ahmed Kharal.

The police said that two armed men riding a motorbike intercepted Prof Kharal, who was going along with his wife and driver in his car (ARR-551), near Submarine Chowrangi and reportedly demanded valuables, including his car, before firing at him.

A friend of the slain doctor said the professor had not put up resistance yet the armed riders fired at him and fled without taking away the car or other valuables.

The wounded professor was rushed to the JPMC by his driver, but he could not survive.

Prof Kharal suffered a gunshot wound in the chest that apparently proved fatal, said hospital sources.

The incident occurred near the Gizri flyover on Khayaban-i-Hafiz.

DIG South Commander Shaukat Ali quoted the driver, who was sitting on the backseat of the car at the time of the incident, as saying that it was an apparent attempt to snatch the car.

The doctor was willing to hand over the car but it seemed that the suspects became jittery when they noticed the driver sitting on the backseat and opened fire, the DIG said.

A large number of relatives and friends of the deceased professor reached the JPMC as the news of the killing spread.

He resided in Bath Island near Tayyaba Masjid.

Dr Kharal also held the post of JPMC executive director for around six months during the tenure of former federal health minister Ajaz Jakhrani.

The slain professor was the uncle of SSP Sharjeel Kharal.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Medical Association and the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association condemned the killing of Prof Kharal and demanded that the Sindh government ensure immediate arrest of the killers and provision of security to the doctors’ community at the earliest.

Karachi PMA President Dr Idrees Adhi said a general body meeting of the PMA would be held on the issue on Saturday.

It was a second murder of a doctor during the fortnight that indicated the state of law and order in the city, said Dr Abdul Malik of PIMA in his immediate reaction to the murder of Dr Kharal.