KARACHI: An activist of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) was shot dead while another critically wounded in a gun attack said to be carried out on sectarian grounds near Sakhi Hasan on Sunday evening, Taimuria police and party officials said.

They added that the ASWJ activists were returning from their party workers convention held at Nagan Chowrangi on a motorbike and when they reached the Haroon Shopping Centre near Sakhi Hasan, armed motorcyclists opened fire on them and escaped.

As a result, 35-year-old Qari Saeed Ahmed and 30-year-old Qari Mohammed Sadiq sustained critical wounds and were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced Qari Saeed dead on arrival.

The victim sustained two bullet wounds in the chest while Mr Sadiq received a single bullet on his face and his condition was stated to be critical.

“It appeared to be an act of targeted killing carried out on sectarian grounds,” Gulberg SP Chaudhry Asad Ali said.

The officer added that a spent bullet fired from the 0.9mm pistol was found on the crime scene.

The deceased, a resident of Khawaja Ajmir Nagri, was a seminary teacher in the same area, said an ASWJ spokesperson.

Killing in Jam Goth

An 18-year-old man was shot dead in Memon Goth on Sunday morning, police said.

They added that Umair Nabi Bux was attacked and killed by gunmen in Jam Goth near a football ground.

The deceased allegedly had a criminal record and might have been killed by gangsters over some dispute, said Memon Goth SHO Jan Mohammed.

He added that the deceased was living with his maternal uncle in Shanti Nagar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and had gone to Jam Goth to meet his relatives when the incident occurred.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2014