QUETTA / DERA MURAD JAMALI: Three people were killed and one injured in separate attacks in Quetta and Dera Bugti on Monday.

A rickshaw driver, belonging to the Hazara community, was shot dead by a passenger in a targeted attack on Quetta’s Alamdar Road, officials said.

Police identified the victim as Hussian Hazara, a resident of Marriabad, and said “the murder appears to be a case of targeted killing”.

They said that a man hired a rickshaw for Alamdar Road area and after reaching the area, he took out a weapon and shot dead the driver.

Missing child found dead in Khuzdar

“The rickshaw driver suffered multiple bullet injuries which caused his immediate death,” hospital officials said.

The police shifted the body to Civil Hospital. Later, the body of the victim was handed over to his family members. The murderer escaped from the area after the shooting.

In another shooting, some armed men killed a man in the Qambrani road area of Sariab.

According to police, the armed men riding motorcycles opened fire on Ghulam Qadir and sped away.

Officials said the motive for the killing could not be ascertained immediately. Police later registered a case.

Landmine blast

In a separate attack, a man was killed and another sustained injuries in a landmine blast in Dera Bugti district.

Officials said a man identified as Sajan Khan Bugti was riding back home along with his colleague when their motorbike hit a landmine in the Loi Beh area, a locality on the outskirts of Dera Bugti town.

In the explosion, Mr Bugti was killed and the pillion rider injured.

No one has claimed responsibility for the landmine explosion so far.

Missing child found dead

In Khuzdar, an eight-year-old daughter of a daily wage labourer, who went missing on Sunday evening, was found dead in the Nall area of Khuzdar.

Levies officials said that the girl, identified as Humaira, daughter of Abid Hussain, had gone missing the previous evening.

Despite the efforts made by her family, they were unable to find her, the officials said.

However, the people informed the local administration about the discovery of a girl’s body in the bushes on the outskirts of Nall town.

Upon receiving this information, Levies officials rushed to the scene, took the body into custody, and shifted it to the district hospital in Khuzdar, where doctors confirmed her death.

According to Levies, hospital doctors said that she had been raped before being strangled to death.

“The cause of eight-year-old Humaira’s death was strangulation,” hospital doctors confirmed, adding that she had also been subjected to sexual assault.

The family hails from the Jhal Magsi district and had come to Nall in search of work. The victim’s father was employed as a daily wage labourer.

Abdul Wahid Shahwani in Khuzdar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2023