KARACHI, June 17: Munawwar Suharwardy, Sindh PPP information secretary and a close confidant of Ms Benazir Bhutto, was shot dead in a targeted killing on Thursday afternoon near the busy Guru Mandir intersection.

No clue as to his killers or the motive for the murder was available. His killing led to disturbances in some localities of the city where protesters burnt vehicles and damaged public and private property. Law-enforcement personnel were deployed and several roads were closed to traffic.

Father of three, Mr Suharwardy had played an active role in his party's activities from Karachi. His assassination came some three months after the murder of PPP leader and member of the provincial assembly Abdullah Murad Baloch on March 6.

Referring to the attack on Mr Suharwardy, city police chief Tariq Jamil told Dawn: "It appears to be a targeted killing." He said Mr Suharwardy had parked his car in front of the Business Recorder's office near Guru Mandir and was getting down from the vehicle when two people in a car fired at him and fled.

Witnesses said Mr Suharwardy was still in his car when he was shot. He was grievously injured but managed to hail a passing rickshaw and asked to be taken to the Aga Khan Hospital where he died.

The windscreen and right windowpanes of Mr Suharwardy's car were smashed and, according to witnesses, the assailants sped away in their car, which was said to be white in colour.

The driver of the rickshaw in which Mr Suharwardy was taken to hospital, Mohammad Azam, told newsmen: "Mr Suharwardy asked me to rush to the Aga Khan hospital. He kept on talking to me till the New Town intersection."

The driver quoted Mr Suharwardy as saying: "My children are very young. Please rush to the hospital and save my life." As the rickshaw approached the hospital's gate, he told Mr Suharwardy that they had reached the hospital, but there was no response, Mr Azam added.

He said he had taken him to the emergency where he was put on a stretcher and taken to the operation theatre. Hospital sources said Mr Suharwardy was brought in serious condition and he could not survive. Funeral prayers for Mr Suharwardy were held at a park in Hyderabad Colony and was attended by family members, PPP leaders and workers and friends.