LARKANA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh general secretary Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro survived in what his party described as a murderous attack. Unidentified assailants fired shots at his vehicle near Kanga village, some three kilometres from here, on Larkana-Mirokhan road late on Saturday night, it said.

Hameedullah Siyal, the party’s local spokesman, said in a statement that the attackers had placed tree trunks across the road. As soon as the vehicle carrying Maulana Soomro came to a halt there, they opened fire but luckily he remained unhurt in the attack, he said.

The attackers took to their heels when the police guards accompanying the JUI-F leader fired back at them, he said, adding that the Maulana was on his way to Mirokhan to address a scheduled congregation when the incident took place.

Nasir Khalid Mehmood Soomro, JUI-F Larkana chapter’s emir, condemned the attack on his brother and said it was a murderous attack and must be part of a larger conspiracy.

Senior Superintendent of Police Sarfaraz Nawaz Shaikh told journalists after inspecting the crime scene that it was premature to say anything about the incident as “we did not find any casings at the site of the alleged attack”.

The policemen providing security to the Maulana fired into the air when the vehicle halted suddenly at the place where the road had been blocked with tree trunks, he said.

“We are in constant touch with the JUI-F leadership for an investigation. Police have so far picked 11 suspects who have confessed to being at the crime scene,” he said.

He said the suspects claimed they had put the trunks just to make the vehicle of Syed Hajan Shah’s son – who was also scheduled to visit the area – to make a brief stopover and allow them to have the honour of catching a glimpse of him and meet him.

The SSP said that police caught the suspects after tracing their footprints, which led to a nearby village. They belonged to the Mugheri and Jatoi tribes, he added.

Police were further investigating the incident to ascertain the suspects’ motive behind placing obstacles on the road, he said.

Sources said the party too was privately probing the incident. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the party chief, and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri condemned the alleged attack on Maulana Soomro and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits to uncover the conspiracy behind the attack, according to JUI-F’s central media cell.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022