KARACHI: A young man was shot dead outside his home in Nazimabad No 2 on Saturday in a sectarian attack, police said.

They added that 35-year-old Ghulam Abbas Naqvi was targeted by armed men riding a motorbike early in the morning soon after he left home for work in Khamosh Colony.

“He was hit by a single bullet in the head fired at a very close range,” said an official at the Gulbahar police station. “The attackers used a 9mm pistol. The victim was employed with a private entertainment television channel as a librarian. The incident seemed to be linked to the recent wave of killings of sectarian grounds.”

The Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen condemned Mr Naqvi’s killing and blamed law-enforcement agencies for the recent upsurge in armed attacks on sectarian grounds.

“The law-enforcement agencies, including Rangers and the police, are involved in this barbaric trend,” an MWM spokesman said.“Some 11 people from the Shia community, including a doctor, have been killed within a week. Most of the people were targeted in central district, where no credible action has been witnessed so far from law-enforcement agencies, suggesting that they are involved in this crime one way or another.”

Meanwhile, a young man was found dead in the Lyari river near Garden Dhobi Ghaat with a slit throat. The area police said the victim, 30-year-old Anwaar Khan, was a drug addict and initial investigation suggested that he had been attacked by his fellows.

“The victim had left home on Friday evening with his friends, who are known drug addicts in the area,” said Inspector Asif Munawwar, the SHO of the Garden police station. “His friends have been missing since the incident. We have found that the victim had some monetary dispute with a few of them [friends] and the quarrel might have led to the killing of Anwaar.”

Railway policeman shot dead

A railway police constable was shot dead near the Malir River on Saturday.

An official said that 43-year-old Mohammed Zikriya was returning from patrol when he was attacked along the railway tracks, a kilometre from the Landhi railway station.

“Witnesses said three men wearing masks attacked him when he reached near the tracks over the Malir River,” said an official at the Landhi railways police station. “He was hit by three bullets and died on the spot. The victim was a resident of the Quaidabad area. People behind and motive for the attack have not yet been ascertained.”

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014