KARACHI: An employee of a government hospital and a local leader of a religious party were gunned down in two suspected sectarian attacks in Orangi Town and Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Friday afternoon, according to police and party officials.

In Orangi Town’s Mominabad area, two motorcycle-riding assailants attacked Syed Haider Ali Rizvi, 29, employee of the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, and his colleague Saleem Asghar Ali, 45, at Ghousia roundabout in sector-10 when they were going somewhere on a motorcycle.

They sustained critical wounds and were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Rizvi died before he could get medical help while Ali was admitted for treatment.

Ali was a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s unit 131 and both victims belonged to the Shia community, said Mominabad SHO Sabir Khan Khattak.

“It appeared to be an incident of targeted killing, but as to whether it was motivated by sectarian or political reasons is yet to be ascertained,” said the police officer.

A spokesperson for Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen said that Rizvi was the son of a trustee of Imambargah Haider-i-Karrar in Orangi Town, Nafis Haider.

MQM senior leader Wasay Jalil said that since both were members of the Shia community, the attack might be linked to sectarianism. He confirmed that Ali was their party member while the deceased was their supporter.

ASWJ activist

Soon after the Mominabad attack, an activist of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat was shot dead and a seminary student was hurt in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, according to police.

Gulshan SP Abid Qaimkhani said that Maulana Yasir, 25, and Mohammad Ahmad, 30, were riding a motorcycle when armed pillion-riders attacked them near Taha mosque in Block-7.

They sustained critical wounds and were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where doctors declared Yasir dead on arrival, said Dr Seemin Jamali.

“Yasir was the general secretary of the Muavia unit of the ASWJ in Safoora Goth while the wounded is a student of Ahsan-ul-Uloom,” said the SP.

He said that police were probing the exact motive for the murder.

However, the ASWJ spokesperson said that it was a targeted killing. Maulana Yasir was a party leader and a prayer leader in Ashab Sufa mosque in Safoora Goth who was returning home after leading Friday prayers when he came under attack, he said.

Investigators found 14 casings of bullets at the crime scene fired from 0.9mm pistol, said the SP.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

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