KARACHI, May 19: Declaring it to be an act of targeted killing, police on Sunday ruled out the possibility that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Zahrah Shahid Husain was killed while resisting a mugging attempt at her Defence house.

The PTI leader was gunned down in Defence Phase-IV on Saturday night, hours before re-polling on 43 polling stations of NA-250. The killing sparked fear during polling day on Sunday.

“It appears to be a clear case of targeted killing,” said DIG-South Dr Amir Sheikh.

However, he said, the motive for the killing was yet to be ascertained.

He said that she had remained an active leader of the PTI since its founding days, but of late she had become “inactive”.

Quoting the statement of her driver, the DIG said that when they reached home, he got off the car to open the gate as the family did not have a watchman.

He said that a suspect entered the house when the driver parked the vehicle in the porch. He saw Ms Husain gave her purse to him and he kept it. But when she gave her mobile phone, the suspect took it and threw it away.

The DIG said that according to the driver the suspect had not demanded her purse and she had herself given it to him. She did not carry much money.

“The killer fired a single shot that hit her in the chin and proved fatal,” said the DIG.

The suspect also fired another shot while fleeing. It showed that the suspect was a ‘trained killer’ who opened fire with the intention to kill her. If it had been a mugging attempt, the suspect would have fired at her legs or some other body part, he added. He said that an initial probe suggested that there were two suspects and one of them stayed on the motorcycle while the pillion passenger entered the house when the door was opened.

Slain leader laid to restMs Husain’s funeral prayers were held at Sultan Masjid after Asr prayers and were attended by senior PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Omar, Arif Alvi and others.

She was laid to rest at the Defence Phase-IV graveyard amid moving scenes.

Before choosing the political career, Ms Husain was associated with Karachi University’s international department as its faculty member. She taught there until the 1980s.