KARACHI: The Preedy police station house officer (SHO) was shot dead in a suspected sectarian attack on the main Korangi Road in the Defence Housing Authority on Thursday morning, officials said.

DIG-South Dr Jamil Ahmed told Dawn in the evening that the SHO might have been targeted on sectarian grounds as he belonged to the Isna Ashri community of Badin district.

SHO Ejaz Ali Khawaja was attacked soon after he left his home in Defence Phase-II Extension in a private car.

The officer was on his way to his office in Saddar when gunmen on a motorcycle attacked his vehicle near the traffic intersection called Defence Mor.

The police said apparently the assailants did not succeed in their first attempt. One tyre of the car was burst in the firing and the vehicle drove onto the green belt after it was hit by a passing Suzuki hi-roof. The attackers chased and opened fire on him from close range. Not in uniform, the police official was driving the car without any police guard.

He sustained critical bullet wounds and was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, said Dr Seemin Jamali, head of the JPMC’s emergency department.

Family members and several police officers arrived at the emergency department, where emotional scenes were witnessed.

The victim’s wife, accompanied by a toddler son, told doctors that she was shocked when she saw a ticker on a news channel that her husband had been attacked. “Our five-year-old son is in school and how will I tell him that his father is no more?” Dr Seemin Jamali quoted the grief-stricken wife as having told the doctors.

“This is the destiny of those who serve in the police department,” the woman stated amid wails and warned the doctors that “you might also face the same fate as you, too, are government servants”.

The relatives and police personnel did not allow the doctors to shift the body to the JPMC’s mortuary for a post-mortem examination.

As a result, medico-legal officials conducted an ‘external examination’ of the police officer’s body in the casualty department’s small room, said police surgeon Dr Jalil Qadir.

The autopsy revealed that the Preedy police officer sustained three bullet wounds, one in the right side of the face and two in the chest.

“It is a targeted-killing incident and investigators are focussing on two to three aspects of the case,” said DIG Dr Jamil Ahmed.

“Initial investigation suggests that Ejaz Ali Khawaja might have been targeted on sectarian grounds,” said the DIG-South. However, he repeated that they were looking into other aspects of the case also.

“We are ascertaining whether the police officer has dealt with any high-profile case or he had any ‘issues’ with any organisation,” added the DIG.

The Preedy SHO had received no threat from any organisation, but “he was a police officer who belonged to a particular sect,” said Dr Jamil.

Additional inspector general of police, Karachi, Ghulam Qadir Thebo visited the crime scene. Talking to the media, the city police chief said SHO Khawaja was not under any threat. However, by virtue of being a police officer, he might have been dealing with some cases, and hoped that they would soon know all about it.

Ejaz Ali Khawaja has been performing his duty as the Preedy SHO for the past few months. He originally hailed from the Pahar Marri area of Badin district. He had been in police service for the past 22 years, according to a Preedy police officer.

He leaves three sons, a daughter and the wife. His funeral prayers were held in the Garden police headquarters.

The inspector general of police has constituted a probe committee to be headed by the DIG-South.

He was the third SHO of the Preedy police station to be killed within three years.

Ghazanfar Ali Kazmi, the then SHO Preedy, was shot dead in August 2014 near his home in the Garden police headquarters. He was also not in uniform and drove his private car without any police guard.

Another Preedy SHO, Agha Asadullah, was shot dead under mysterious circumstances in the Saddar area in April 2013.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play