KARACHI: A man was shot dead and three others, including his wife, were wounded when assailants sprayed their car with bullets in the busy Nursery area on Sharea Faisal on Monday, police said.

They said that the couple, who had tied the knot of their free will, along with others were returning from the Sindh High Court when they came under an armed attack carried out allegedly by close relatives of the girl.

The Ferozabad police said that three-four armed men travelling in a car intercepted the vehicle near Razi Road corner and opened indiscriminate fire. As a result, four persons suffered bullet wounds and they were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors pronounced Waseem Ejaz, 30, dead on arrival.

Additional Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said Waseem’s wife, Kausar, 30, his brother Naseer Ejaz, 35, and car driver, Syed Muneer, 55, were admitted for treatment. She said that a post-mortem examination of the deceased was conducted which showed that he suffered eight bullet wounds including seven in the chest.

SSP-East Qamar Raza Jiskani said that a fifth person, identified as Yaseen, who was also travelling in the same car remained unhurt. He told the police that Kausar’s parents had lodged an FIR against Waseem in the Hatri area, Hyderabad for kidnapping their daughter on Aug 29.

The couple had appeared before the SHC on Monday for quashment of that FIR. On the court premises, they met with the girl’s father, brother and other relatives who tried to persuade her to go with them but she refused.

Yaseen further told the police when they left the court premises in a rented car and were on their way to Steel Town, Kausar’s relatives in a vehicle chased them and opened fire on Sharea Faisal near Lal Kothi.

The SSP said that he identified five suspects allegedly involved in the incident as Kausar’s father Aziz, her brother Azeem, cousin Nasir, and uncles Hameer and Amin.

He said that both the families originally hailed from Larkana.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2021