KARACHI, Feb 16: The former member of the Sindh Assembly belonging to the Muttahida Quami Movement, Mr Khalid bin Waleed, was gunned down in an ambush here on Sunday evening.

Two men, a police guard and a Muttahida worker, were wounded in the ambush which took place in North Nazimabad near the Karachi Medical and Dental College.

Mr Waleed was on his way home when his car (ACF-167), a white Suzuki Khyber, was intercepted by a yellow cab on Allama Rasheed Turabi Road. While the cab driver stayed in the vehicle, the assailant stepped out and fired at the car with a Kalashnikov. The bullets pierced through the vehicle. Three bullets hit Mr Waleed — two in the head and one in the shoulder. He was sitting on the left back seat of the car.

The police guard, Mr Shahid, sitting on the front passenger seat, received two bullets, each in the head and the neck and Mr Adnan, the Muttahida worker driving the car, suffered a bullet wound in his hand.

Following the escape of the assailant in the cab, Mr Adnan called the Muttahida headquarters, 90, and spoke to Dr Farooq Sattar who rushed to the Dr Ziauddin Hospital where Mr Waleed was pronounced dead on arrival. The two wounded were admitted to hospital.

A medico-legal officer was called in from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to carry out a postmortem. While Mr Adnan is stated to be out of danger, the condition of the police guard is serious. Senior Muttahida leaders and workers also rushed to the hospital.

Talking to Dawn, Sindh Inspector General Syed Kamal Shah referred to a statement given by Mr Adnan describing the appearance of the assailant. “The assailant was clad in jeans and a T-shirt while the driver sported a stubble. The special branch of the police department would assist the investigation of the case,” he said.

The senior deputy convener of the Muttahida Quami Movement, Mr Aftab Shaikh, told Dawn that he was devastated by the killing of Mr Waleed.

“We spent a lot of time together at the Muttahida headquarters where the death anniversary of Muttahida chief Altaf Hussain’s brother-in-law, Aslam Abrahani, was observed on Sunday. We even went to the graveyard together to offer Fateha. Since we had to go to a function together at Marriot in the evening, we decided to go home for some time and change. Khalid was to pick me up from my place afterwards,” he said.

Mr Shaikh said he had asked the chief minister to protect the lives of the driver and the police guard who had been wounded, because they were the witnesses.

He said at present party workers and leaders were too shocked to announce what action the MQM would take to condemn the killing.

BURIAL: According to an MQM press release, the Nimaz-i-Janaza of Mr Waleed will be held at Jinnah Ground, Azizabad, and he would be laid to rest at Sakhi Hassan graveyard after Zohr prayers.