KARACHI: The trustee of an Imambargah was gunned down in what police described as an attack on sectarian grounds in the Martin Quarters area on Saturday.

PIB police said that Syed Rais Jaffery, 57, was targeted by armed motorcyclists when he was heading towards the judicial complex at the Karachi central prison on a motorbike to attend the hearing of a case against him.

Gulshan SP Abid Qaimkhani said that the victim sustained critical bullet wounds and was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors declared him dead.

He said that the deceased was facing three criminal cases, including the killing of an activist of banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan in Rizvia Society in 2013. Other two cases were related to possession of illicit weapons and attempted murder. He was enlarged on bail.

“It appears to be a sectarian killing and we are investigating whether his murder was linked with the killing of the SSP worker,” the SP said.

SP Qaimkhani said his name was also included in the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. He came to a police station regularly, he added.

He said that the victim was a trustee of Imambargah Jafferia in Rizvia Society but he had no known affiliation with any religious or political group.

Investigators collected two spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol from the scene of crime.

He was father of five.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015

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