KARACHI, May 18: A leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was shot dead outside her house in Defence Society on the eve of re-polling at 43 stations of Karachi’s NA-250 constituency.

Although police initially said Zohra Shahid Hussain was shot dead on Saturday night after she resisted a robbery attempt, leaders of the PTI were not convinced and sought a thorough investigation.

Earlier, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced boycott of the re-polling after calling into question the ‘impartiality’ of the Election Commission (ECP). The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) took an identical decision on Friday.

The re-polling had been ordered by the ECP after a petition was filed by the PTI.

“As Ms Hussain came out of her house in the Defence Housing Authority’s phase IV, she was intercepted by three youngsters on a motorcycle,” said SSP of South Nasir Aftab. Quoting a member of the victim’s family, he said the armed youths tried to snatch her purse but she offered resistance on which they fired at her. She was hit by a single bullet in the chin and was taken to hospital where she died.

The robbers fled without taking away Ms Hussain’s purse or anything else, the SSP said.

However, he said, the police had not yet recorded a statement of Ms Hussain’s driver, the only witness to the incident.

“We will look into any other angle after recording his statement,” he added.

A large number of PTI leaders and workers thronged the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where Ms Hussain’s body was brought for medico-legal formalities.

Moving scenes were witnessed at the hospital and several activists were seen crying in anguish.

In a cautious reaction, PTI leaders did not rule out the police version but demanded a wide-ranging investigation into the incident before reaching any conclusion.

Referring to threats to the party workers, mainly in the city’s district south, Dr Arif Alvi, the PTI’s general secretary and candidate for NA-250, said: “Its police job to identify the killers and determine the motive,”

“We expect peaceful re-polling tomorrow under security provided by the army but the incident has raised serious questions over the situation,” he said

In reply to a question, Dr Alvi said he had not received any “direct” threat but workers of his party, mainly in NA-250, had been haunted by a feeling of insecurity during the election campaign. “The police and administration are aware of the situation but have taken no action, he said.

PPP boycotts re-polling Announcing the boycott, PPP candidate for NA-250 Rashid Rabbani said at a pres conference: “The ECP did not bother to hear us while deciding about the re-polling.

He said the PPP did not trust the process of re-polling and believed that preparations were being made to sideline real democratic forces.