KARACHI, June 16: Habibullah Niazi, the younger brother of deputy superintendent jail Amanullah Khan Niazi, succumbed to his wounds on Friday morning at the Civil Hospital, pushing the death toll in the Thursday shooting incident to five.Amanullah Niazi was gunned down along with his three associates as unknown assailants on motorcycles intercepted two vehicles they were travelling in on a busy Saddar thoroughfare in broad daylight. Habibullah Niazi, who was among the six other persons injured in the incident, was in the escort vehicle.

DIG Investigation Manzoor Mughal, commenting on the possible motive for the killing, said: “We are looking at both -- inside or outside the jail links -- but have not got a definite clue yet… he (Amanullah Niazi) was a strict administrator and, as such, definitely some vindictive elements may have been after him.”

He further stated: “We visited the Niazi’s residence on Friday but the bereaved family was not in a position to talk. However, his elder brother, Abdul Sattar Niazi, cooperated with us, though he could not identify any particular group or individual likely to be behind the attack.

The Special Branch and Crime Investigation Department are assisting the Investigation wing in the probe, according to the DIG.

Meanwhile, Farrukh Mushtaque, owner of the motorcycle (KAG-8357) found abandoned at the scene of Thursday’s killings, recorded his statement before police on Friday. He said that the vehicle had been snatched from him by four young men on June 11 in Nazimabad. “Clad in trousers and shirts, they asked for the motorcycle in a very polite manner. They didn’t demand cellphone or cash,” he stated.

Investigators told Dawn that eyewitnesses of the incident were not coming forward with evidences. “The owner of the burger shop on the ground floor of the Star Cinema building and some other shopkeepers told police that they simply ducked when firing started. They claim to have seen nothing but the assailants fleeing after the shooting. They said that the attackers were waving their Kalashnikovs in the air”, the investigators said.

Meanwhile, the postmortem reports submitted to the police by the medico-legal officers at the Civil Hospital showed that Amanullah Niazi suffered as many as 16 bullets in his head, neck and back, whereas his companions had sustained head and neck wounds in the shooting.

Mohammad Waris, a clerk at the jail who was among the injured and has lodged the FIR (267/2006) of the incident at the Preedy police station, told police that he could not see the attackers’ faces.

A senior investigator, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that the Thursday incident bore all the hallmarks of the similar high-profile killings carried out in the city in the past. He said that the number of attackers involved in the shooting was not yet clear, but they surely were around six-seven, may be more. A similar pattern was witnessed in the Hakim Said assassination case, he pointed out.

The last political killing in Saddar Town had been carried out on March 19, 2006 and the victim was a former provincial minister Badar Iqbal. He originally belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement but had later joined the PML-Q. He was gunned down along with his guard while a pedestrian, who had received a stray bullet, also died in the broad daylight attack near Light House.