KARACHI: A worker of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) was shot dead in Orangi Town on Tuesday, police said.

While the police claimed that Waseem Siddiqui, 42, was murdered over a monetary dispute, his party believed that he was killed in a targeted attack and demanded that the government investigate his “assassination”.

The police said that the incident took place near Muslimeen Masjid in Sector 7-B within the remit of the Orangi Town police station.

Area SHO Syed Ali Raza said that Mr Siddiqui, 42, received a phone call and after talking with someone left his home in what his family described a fit of anger.

He said that it appeared that those who called him were waiting outside his home and they took him to a corner, where they fired at him and fled. The victim died on the spot.

The body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The SHO suspected some personal enmity behind the murder and said that the victim had a monetary dispute with some people.

Later in the evening, JI-Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman led the funeral prayers for the deceased worker.

He condemned the “assassination” of the party worker and said that the killers were roaming freely in the city as they did not have any fear.

Demanding justice for Waseem Siddiqui, he urged residents to form neighbourhood watch committees for their safety.

Talking to the media, the JI chief demanded that the government and law enforcement agencies, including Rangers, investigate the matter in a transparent manner and arrest the killers.

Holding the government and the state responsible for the murder, he said that protection of life and property of the people was their prime responsibility.

He said that more than 150 people were shot dead by street criminals in the metropolis during the year 2023.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024