KARACHI, March 18: In what police suspected as a sectarian attack, principal of a college and a campaigner of sectarian harmony Prof Sibt-e-Jafar Zaidi was gunned down on Monday.

The killing came as a shock to the Shia community, his students and educationists. The association of professors and lecturers condemned the incident and decided to boycott academic activities across the province in protest against the murder.

Prof Zaidi, who was a renowned marsia khwan, was going home from his Govt Degree Science College, Liaquatabad, when he was sprayed with bullets near Arshi Chowk, police said, adding that he died on the spot.

After medico-legal formalities at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, his body was moved to Imambargah Khairul Amal. The funeral will be held after Zuhr on Tuesday at the Amroha ground in Ancholi.