KARACHI: Three unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire at a Geo TV Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) vehicle Tuesday night in the Bahadurabad area of Karachi, killing a Geo News employee and injuring another, said police.
Ferozabad Station House Officer (SHO) told Dawn that the news van was parked near the busy Naheed Store when unknown assailants fired shots and fled the scene.
There were four persons in the van; two of them had left the vehicle when motorcycle riding men emerged and fired shots at the two personnel still inside the van.
Initially, the two injured media workers – a technician and a driver – were taken to a hospital where Arshad Ali Jaffery succumbed to his injuries. Anees, the driver, is said to be in a stable condition.
The slain media worker was shot seven times, while the driver was shot twice in his shoulder, said police. Officials said the incident appeared to be a targeted attack, but it was not clear whether the target was Jaffery or Geo News.
Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal has taken notice of the attack and summoned a report from DIG East Muneer Shaikh, ordering immediate arrest of the suspects.
This is not the first attack of its nature, targeting media workers. Early last year, three employees of Express News channel were shot dead in North Nazimabad in an attack claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Karachi Central SSP Amir Farooqi had at the time said four armed men on two motorbikes emerged at the Board Office traffic intersection where the van of the news channel was stationed. Two of the assailants got off the bikes and opened indiscriminate fire on the van. The assailants, wearing shalwar qameez, escaped after the shooting.
Take a look: Three workers of TV channel killed.
