KARACHI: A policeman was shot dead on what police suspected to be sectarian grounds in Karimabad on the eve of Independence Day, police said on Friday.

They added that Head Constable Syed Mohammad Ali Rizvi of the traffic police was posted at the Azizabad traffic kiosk situated in Karimabad underneath the Liaquatabad flyover.

He was in civvies when shot twice by unidentified assailants while people in cars, motorbikes were expressing jubilation on the eve of Independence Day on Thursday night.

He was taken to a private hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

Police officer Haji Sanaullah said the assailants walked towards the slain policemen, shot him and fled on foot.

He was the fifth policeman targeted in the city during the past one month. Four other policemen were martyred in Mehmoodabad, Korangi, Saddar and Gulshan-i-Maymar.

Five policemen have been martyred in the city during a short span of one month

Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said that the slain policeman might have been targeted on sectarian ground.

He said out of five recent targeted killings of policemen, investigators got strong leads in the killing of ASI Ghulam Mohammad of the Brigade police station.

He said the police believed that Sub-Inspector Yar Mohammad of Gulshan-i-Maymar police was killed by robbers but it was only confirmed after the arrest of the killers.

Talking about the latest killing, he said no clear pattern had so far emerged. The policeman was in plain clothes and four other policemen in uniform were standing a few yards away from the crime scene.

“The assailants could have targeted a group of officers in uniform rather than him who was not in uniform,” said the city police chief. “We are investigating this crime in the context of sectarian background as the victim was Shia.”

“We cannot rule out that a group of terrorists sponsored by RAW is targeting police officers in the city,” he said.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar took notice of the incident and sought an urgent report from the SSP-Central about all necessary steps taken by the police for the arrest of the culprits.

Body found

A 50-year-old man was found murdered in his apartment on Superhighway late on Thursday night.

According to the Sachal police, the tortured body of the man, identified as Rasheed, was recovered from a flat in an apartment complex.

Area SHO Haroon Korai said the victim belonged to the Shia Ismaili community and had been living there alone for the past five years.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2020