KARACHI: A young man was shot dead in Orangi Town on Saturday.

Police said that the motive for the killing was not known, but a Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) spokesperson termed it targeted killing as the victim was a close relative of some known religious personalities.

Orangi Town SHO Tasawar Jutt said Wajahat Hussain, 23, was buying vegetables in the marketplace near Ghousia Masjid, Orangi No. 5, when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on him and fled. He sustained critical bullet injuries and died. The incident occurred at around 12.50pm. The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities.

The investigators collected three spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol from the crime scene. “The motive for the killing is not known,” he said.

The area SHO claimed that the victim had scuffled with someone in the area and investigators were trying to ascertain the exact motive for the murder.

However, the MWM spokesperson termed it a targeted killing.

Wajahat Hussain is a nephew of religious personality Imran Shah, founder of the 7th Muharram mourning procession in Orangi Town, and cousin of the MWM’s political secretary in Multan.

The religious party leader apprehended that once again sectarian killings had reared their ugly head in the city.

Apparently referring to the deadly attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani on Friday, the MWM official said that terror incidents of the last two days had put a question mark over the performance of the law enforcement agencies.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2019