KARACHI, Feb 22: A retired professor of the Civil Hospital was seriously injured when he attempted suicide in Clifton on Sunday. Police said that Prof Maula Bukhsh Jamali, 70, apparently shot himself by putting the pistol in his mouth at his residence in Clifton's Block-4.

The SHO Boat Basin police station, Zahid Husain, told Dawn the bullet pierced through his skull and hit the roof of the bedroom. A servant, who was present in the house, informed the police on "15" about the incident. A police mobile immediately reached the house and shifted the victim to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Later, he was referred to the Civil Hospital, where he was put on the ventilator. Police said that the professor had retired from the government service in 1999. Following the separation from his wife, the victim had been living alone in his house, assisted by a servant, the SHO said.

The professor's children are in the United States while one of his sons, who is working with Pakistan Customs, lives in Peshawar. Following the incident, a large number of doctors and victim's former colleagues rushed to the Civil Hospital to inquire about his condition, hospital sources said.