KARACHI, Nov 6: A prominent labour leader was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a bank in Paposhnagar, Nazimabad, on Wednesday morning.

Pasha Ahmed Gul, aged 45, after he withdrew Rs30,000 from the MCB Branch in Block-A of North Nazimabad, went to Sarrafa Bazaar in Paposhnagar. As he alighted from his car (A-4943) and was about to approach the Paposhnagar branch of National Bank of Pakistan, two unidentified men, carrying TT pistols in their hands, pumped three bullets into his body, and escaped on a motorcycle, police said.

“It was a bungled robbery. Bandits tried to rob Mr Pasha. He put up resistance to the bandits who shot him and sped off on a motorcycle,” said a police officer.

The firing spread panic in the area and people ran for their lives. Mr Pasha fell to the ground where he kept bleeding for a considerable time as no one dared to take him to hospital.

After some time, a police constable, Haroon Rasheed, took the injured man to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

A duty officer at Paposhnagar police kiosk said they received information from Abbasi Shaheed Hospital at 11:10am that a policeman had brought Pasha Gul to the hospital where he was admitted. Around 12-noon he died in the hospital.

Mr Pasha died around 11:45am, sources at the hospital said, adding that he was operated upon at the hospital. He had suffered a bullet wound to his chest and his heart was badly damaged besides he suffered severe loss of blood.

The SHO of Paposhnagar police kiosk said injured Pasha had told police about the cash in his car. Police found Rs30,000 and Rs26,000, wrapped separately, and handed over the cash to his brother, the SHO added.

Mr Pasha’s brother Ghulam Ahmed Samdani lodged an FIR (No 346/2002) at Nazimabad police station against unknown persons under sections 302/34 of PPC.

Pasha Gul had been office-bearer of the National Labour Federation Pakistan (NLFP) and the CBA union of Pakistan Steel. He was also one of the founding members of the Pakistan Steel Officers Association (PSOA).

He had been laid off from the Pakistan Steel along with around 80 employees in 2000. He fought his case, from the PSOA’s platform, in the Federal Service Tribunal and was reinstated along with his fellow officers.

He leaves behind his wife, three daughters and one son.

In a statement, the NLFP said the killing of Pasha Gul was an irreparable loss. The NLFP condemned the killing and demanded the arrest of the killers. It warned that workers would stage protests from Karachi to Khyber if the killers were not arrested within 48 hours.

The Pakistan Railway Workers Federation, in a statement, also condemned the killing of the labour leader and demanded the arrest of the killers. They praised Pasha Gul for his courage and vigour as a labour leader, and said his killing had come as a big blow to the trade union movement.

They sympathized with the bereaved family.

The central coordination committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Labour Division, in a statement, also condemned the killing and demanded of the government to arrest the killers without any delay. It termed the incident “an open act of terrorism.” It sympathized with the bereaved family.

The chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Karachi, Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui, said: “Pasha Gul fell prey to target killing.” He demanded of the government to arrest the killers, who destroyed the peaceful atmosphere of the city after the general elections. He said the government had miserably failed to maintain law and order.

He demanded a high-level inquiry into the killing of the trade union leader, who was also an active member of the Jamaat-i-Islami.