KARACHI, Nov 10: A senior lawyer of the Sindh High Court was shot dead in Clifton on Saturday.

Ashiq Ali Abdullah, aged 63, a senior lawyer, left his Clifton residence in his Suzuki FX car (J-8323) in the morning for his office near the City Courts.

When he reached near Schon Circle in Clifton unidentified men sprayed him with bullets and fled. Ashiq was hit by several bullets in his chest. He died on the spot.

The firing created a scare in the area and several vehicles ploughed into one another as drivers wanted to get away from there.

The police reached the spot and called an Edhi ambulance to shift the body to a hospital for post-mortem.

The police were not sure about the number of assailants. They also did not know whether the armed men were riding on a motorcycle or in a car. The police said that those residing in the area were not extending cooperation to them.

“We have no witness to the incident. So we have nothing about the number of of the assailants, or about the kind of vehicle in which they were travelling,” said a police officer.

The Sindh High Court Bar Association and the Karachi Bar Association have condemned the killing of Ashiq Ali Abdullah, and expressed concern at the killing of lawyers at regular intervals.

They demanded of the government to arrest the killers immediately and award them exemplary punishment.

Highwaymen shot a man to death and wounded another on National Highway in Bin Qasim police limits on early Saturday morning.

Yasin, with his driver Aslam, was heading towards the city in a Pajero when bandits intercepted them and tried to rob Yasin of his car and cash. When Yasin and Aslam put up resistance to the highwaymen, they became jittery, opened fire and fled the scene.

Yasin and Aslam were wounded and rushed to a hospital where Yasin died soon. Aslam was admitted to the hospital.

More than a dozen armed men had stopped a passenger bus on the highway and were looting the passengers. In the meantime, Yasin and Aslam reached there and offered resistance to the bandits.

However, the DIG Karachi, Tariq Jamil, disputed this report saying the bandits were three or four in number, and they were clad in a dress that looked like that of private security agencies’ personnel. This led Yasin and Aslam to believe that there was a checkpoint at the place, where the incident occurred, and security personnel were busy checking vehicles.

Police reached the spot after the incident, but no arrest had yet been made, he added.

SUICIDE: A young man committed suicide in Sher Shah on Saturday.

The police said that Husain, aged 23, ran a tea stall to earn a living. On Saturday, he felt dejected with life and shot himself. He died an instantaneous death.

CARJACKING: Thirteen vehicles — six cars and seven motorcycles — were either hijacked or stolen in the city on Saturday, the police said.

Three cars were hijacked: one each in districts East, South and Central. Three others were stolen: two in district East and one in district West.

Three motorcycles were hijacked one each in districts Central, South and East. Four others were stolen: two in district East and one each in districts Central and West.

ROBBERIES: Two robberies were committed in the city on Saturday, the police said.

Bandits barged into the house of Haider Imam Rizvi in Gizri police limits, held the family as hostage at gunpoint, scooped up cash and valuables and escaped with the loot.

Robbers entered the house of Saleem Raza and got away with cash and electrical equipment.