KARACHI: A young man, said to be associated with a religious party, was gunned down in what police described as a ‘targeted attack’ in the Ancholi area on Saturday evening, police and party leaders said.

West Zone DIG Nasir Aftab said that Salman Haider was driving home in Block-20, Federal B. Area near the Noorani Masjid ground. As he got off the vehicle, two armed assailants emerged there, fired at him and fled.

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

“The murder appeared to be linked with targeted killing,” said the DIG.

However, it was yet to be investigated as to whether it got sectarian or other motives, he added.

He said that the victim was an ‘active member’ of the Pasban Aza outfit which has been actively raising voice over missing persons.

Investigators collected two spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol from the crime scene, added the DIG.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) said Salman Haider was a son of prominent religious scholar and Pasban Aza founder late S.M. Haider.

The victim was the secretary general of the All Pakistan Pilgrims Association, office-bearer of Masjid and Imambargah Khairul Amal, he said.

“Salman Haider’s murder is a conspiracy to sabotage peace in the metropolis,” the MWM said in a statement. “The targeted killing has put a question mark over the performance of law-enforcers.”

The MWM condemned the killing and demanded immediate arrest of the killers involved in the incident.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2022