KARACHI: A religious scholar belonging to the Binnori Town seminary in the Gurumandir area was shot at and wounded in a suspected sectarian attack in Orangi Town late on Tuesday night, officials said.

Police said Mufti Saleemullah Khan, 40, was travelling in a car with his family and two students when a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle opened fire on him near MPR Colony. He suffered bullet wounds and was taken to a private hospital for treatment.

Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department official Raja Umar Khattab said the religious scholar had opened two to three seminaries in different parts of the metropolis. He had inaugurated another seminary titled Saleem Academy in Orangi Town around a week ago, where he and his wife taught students including girls.

Rehman Dakait’s son arrested in Lyari

The victim was travelling from his residence in Husain D’Silva Town of North Nazimabad to the academy when two men riding a motorbike apparently chased and opened indiscriminate fire on his vehicle. He suffered two bullet wounds, in a hand and the abdomen.

Mr Khattab said the religious scholar is a known figure among followers of the Deobandi school of thought and the attack appeared to be motivated by sectarian considerations.

The police were, however, investigating the case, he added.

Man shot dead

A 28-year-old man was shot dead in Ittehad Town on Wednesday, police said.

They added that Mohammed Fayyaz was shot at and wounded when unknown suspects opened fire on him at Khyber Chowk.

He suffered bullet wounds in the head and chest and was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Dakait’s son

Police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested a suspect in Lyari who, they said, is a son of the late Rehman Dakait, one of the city’s major organised crime figures.

“Kalakot police arrested a drug peddler, Sarban, near Wali Mohammed Hasanali Road,” the City SSP said. The held suspect is a son of “notorious Rehman Dakait”, added Sarfaraz Nawaz Sheikh.

The police claimed to have seized 1,520 kilograms of hashish, 50 grams Ice and 60g crystal from his custody.

The suspect was involved in supply of drugs in different parts of the metropolis. “He is a hardened criminal, who was also booked in a murder case.”

The police registered a case against him and started an investigation to seek information about his accomplices.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021