HYDERABAD: The driver of a Sindh University point bus was shot dead while he was sitting at a hotel near office of the director of colleges on Jail Road on Friday morning.

The victim, Ghulam Ali, 51, son of Mittho, had parked the point bus outside the hotel and walked into it as per his daily routine when armed assailants riding a motorcycle emerged there, shot at him and sped away.

According to officials at the Baldia police station, the assailants were waiting for the point bus to arrive before they opened fire on Mr Ali. He was rushed to the nearby Liaquat University Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

The police have obtained the close circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the incident and came to know that the assailants were riding a motorbike.

Protests

The incident led to protest demonstrations by SU employees, drivers and other workers of its transport section and heirs and relatives of the victim at different places.

Drivers and employees of the university gathered at the crime scene and held a protest over his murder. The nearby road remained blocked to vehicular traffic during the course of the protest as the drivers parked SU point buses along it.

ASP Aleena Rajpar proceeded to the spot and persuaded the protesters to disperse peacefully and clear the road.

She also tried to resolve the issue of jurisdiction as the spot happened to be between the limits of the Market and Baldia police stations.

At the LUH, heirs and relatives of the deceased drivers held a protest demonstration when his postmortem examination was delayed. They also raised slogans against police. The body was finally handed over to his brothers, Ghulam Asghar and Mohammad Iqbal, after the postmortem was performed.

The heirs told the media that Ghulam Ali or his family had no enmity with anyone.

When the body was taken to the university, its employees held a sit-in outside the administration block. Leaders of their association including Mohammad Ali Ghangro, Sohrab Burfat and Imdad Khoso condemned the murder and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. SU vice chancellor Prof Dr Siddique Kalhoro held negotiations with the protesters and assured them that justice to the heirs would be ensured. Eventually, the sit-in was ended.

Mr Ali’s body was transported to his present residence near the Jamshoro railway crossing. He was originally a resident of Mehar town of Dadu district.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023