KARACHI: A retired army official was shot dead and a passer-by wounded in the Defence area on Saturday afternoon, police said.

According to the Korangi Industrial Area police, an armed assailant fired at Mushtaq Khan as soon as he came out of his car to buy fruits from a roadside vendor in Defence Phase-VIII and fled.

Mr Khan and vendor Sahib Khan sustained bullet wounds and were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where doctors pronounced the former dead on arrival.

Police Surgeon Dr Qarar Ahmed Abbasi said that the victim suffered a single bullet wound in his thigh and he might have died due to excessive bleeding.

The vendor was also hit in the leg and his condition was out of danger, he added.

DIG-East Amir Farooqi said that an initial probe suggested that there was a lone gunman on a motorbike and he wore shalwar kameez and was clean-shaved.

The suspect fired a single shot, which hit Khan as well as the fruit seller.

The investigators were trying to obtain the CCTV footage to ascertain whether he was followed or not so that they could determine if it was a targeted killing or a snatching attempt.

The victim was a former army major and owned a school in DHA. He was reportedly on his way from the school to his residence located on Zulfiqar Street in DHA Phase VIII, said the police.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam took notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the SSP concerned.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2020