KARACHI: A 65-year-old homeopath was killed at his clinic in Nazimabad on Saturday apparently on sectarian grounds, police and Shia organisations said.

Dr Anwar Ali Abidi was seeing patients at Urdu Clinic in the Paposh Nagar area when he was gunned down, said the police.

“He [Dr Abidi] sustained multiple bullet wounds and fell,” said SSP-Central Chaudary Asad Ali.

“Some neighbours and people at the clinic tried their best to save his life by rushing him to the nearby Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, but he died before being brought to the facility,” he added.

The police said two youngsters riding a motorbike pulled up outside the clinic and one of them entered the building. The attacker fired multiple shots at the homeopath before speeding away with his waiting accomplice, the officials said.

Dr Abidi was well known in the area where he had been practising medicine for quite some time. “An investigation is under way to ascertain the motive, but it was definitely not a result of any mugging attempt. It was a deliberate murder,” the SSP said.

In a prompt reaction, the Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), Shia Ulema Council and Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan condemned the killing and called it a failure of the law-enforcement agencies to take measures to eliminate militants and root out banned outfits.

“It’s unfortunate that the extraordinary number of casualties have failed to cause the authorities to take measures that can bring a lasting peace to Karachi,” said an MWM statement.

Dr Abidi was known for his welfare and social work in his neighbourhood without any discrimination, the MWM stated.

Funeral prayers for Dr Abidi was later offered at Shah-i-Karbala Imambargah in Old Rizvia Society and he was buried in Wadi-i-Hussain graveyard.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2015

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