KARACHI, Jan 31: Two teachers and a student of a seminary were gunned down in an attack on their hi-roof van on Sharae Faisal on Thursday.

The attack took place on a stretch of the thoroughfare between the Nursery bus stop and the Finance and Trade Centre in front of the Sindhi Muslim Housing Society’s Block-B.

The closing moments of the shooting were caught by a CCTV camera installed at a wedding lawn in front of which the shooting took place.

The footage showed that three assailants escaped on a motorcycle after attacking the van which was on the left track of the road.

Two of the attackers, waiting at a turning, started shooting at the occupants of the vehicle from point blank range.

The footage shows the hi-roof taking a U-turn after its driver was hit. One of the attackers was sitting on the bike, an accomplice jumped onto it after firing some shots and the third kept shooting at the occupants as the van slowed down.

The victims were going to the Darveshia Mosque in the same block. The footage showed the three attackers fleeing from the scene in a causal manner. The victims were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, but were pronounced dead on arrival. They were identified as Shaikhul Hadees Mufti Abdul Majeed Dinpori, 50, the senior most faculty member of Jamia Binnoria, his deputy Mufti Saleh Mohammad, 40, and student Hasan Ali Shah, 33, who was driving the vehicle. Police said 9mm pistols were used in the attacks. A police officer said the attack appeared to be linked to an ongoing spate of sectarian killings taking place in the city. Funeral prayers for the slain clerics were offered at the Jamia Binnoria, Gurumandir. “We have no expectations of getting justice,” Qari Mohammad Islam, the Karachi chief of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, said. “This entire nation, the citizens of Karachi, the students and clerics are worn out after carrying the bodies of our elders... The time is near when we will give a call for everyone to come out onto the streets,” he said while talking to a foreign news agency. A large number of people, mostly seminary students, attended the funeral. Contingents of police and Rangers were deployed at the place. The killings sparked tension in various parts of the city. All shops and markets in the vicinity of Gurumandir were closed along with several other markets in the city, including Tariq Road. Some miscreants resorted to firing into the air in Shah Faisal Colony, Gurumandir, Lasbela, Nagan Chowrangi and other areas. Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain condemned the killings and said they were part of a conspiracy to destroy peace in Karachi. At least 12 other people were killed in violence across the city during the day. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said in the evening that Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had decided to summon to Karachi reserve police contingents from all districts of the province. The contingents were expected to reach the city by Friday and would be deployed in all sensitive areas, he said, adding that a coordinated operation would be launched against criminals.

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