KARACHI, Sept 19: Zafar Baloch, a Pakistan Peoples Party activist who had also served as a spokesman for the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee, was on Thursday buried in the Mewa Shah graveyard as life remained paralysed in old city areas including Lyari, where he and his guard were gunned down on Wednesday night.

Though the police investigators said the investigations were still open, they had yet to set a course of probe before registering a case of double murder. PPP leaders who attended the funeral procession called it a “targeted attack as part of the ongoing killings of our workers”.

The funeral prayers of Mr Baloch and guard Muhammad Ali were offered on Chakiwara Road near the Football House. It was attended by a large number of area people, his friends and PPP leaders. Though the PPP MPA from the area Javed Nagori was among the participants, no member of the Sindh cabinet of the PPP government was there.

Businesses in the old city areas remained closed as the densely-populated neighbourhood reverberated with gunfire that spread fear till early morning. Jodia Bazaar, Boulton Market, Sarafa Bazaar, Kapra Market, Denso Hall, Katchi Gali (wholesale medicine market) and other key wholesales markets remained closed.

The city police chief said the killing of Mr Baloch needed to be seen from all angles before reaching any conclusion. He did not hint at a particular group though in their initial assessment some police officials had suspected the rival group to be behind the fatal attack on Mr Baloch.

“We are looking into the killing from all aspects. It would be too early to suspect any particular group or individual before completing investigations. We are up to it and hope to trace the suspects and their motive soon,” added additional IG of Karachi Shahid Hayat.

Earlier after burial, Karachi PPP president Abdul Qadir Patel said the killing of Mr Baloch was part of a conspiracy aimed at undermining the PPP in its stronghold.

“Zafar Baloch was a born PPP activist,” he told reporters. “His killing has been done by those elements who want to sabotage the peace of this city and hit the PPP in its stronghold. But one should know that the people of Lyari would not let them succeed.”