KARACHI, Feb 1: A gunman was wounded and arrested as he tried to flee after firing two shots at a private guard deployed at Imambargah Madinatul Ilm in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday, police said.

The suspect, who was later identified as Noorul Hasan, hailing from North Waziristan, was shot at and wounded by a policeman as the former attempted to escape after leaving the guard, Jafar Ali, 45, wounded, the officials said. The police high-ups claimed that officials were investigating the case and it was too early to confirm if it was motivated by some personal enmity or the gunman wanted to attack the Imambargah.

SSP (east) Khadim Husain Rind told Dawn that the suspect first entered a house, neighbouring the Imambargah, and climbed up the stairs. But the residents noticed him and raised an alarm, the SSP said, adding that the intruder finally rushed out of the house and managed to snatch a weapon from the guard.

As the guard struggled to get back the weapon, two shots were fired that pierced his lung and shoulder.

Meanwhile, a policeman on duty came to the help of the guard but the suspect also attempted to snatch his AK-47 rifle, the SSP said. Subsequently, he added, the policeman shot at the suspect and arrested him.

The guard was rushed to the Aga Khan University Hospital by the Imambargah administration. Doctors described hiscondition as critical, the police said.

The wounded suspect was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The bullet had pierced his bladder, sources in the hospital and the police said.The suspect was stated to be in a critical condition.

“So far we have not been able to question the suspect, but we cannot rule out the possibility that he wanted to carry out an attack inside the Imambargah after snatching the weapon,” said SSP Rind.

Gulshan SP Salam Shaikh said that there could be two motives. Either the suspect wanted to carry out an attack inside the Imambargah after snatching the weapon or the two men had some personal enmity, the SP added.

A witness told Dawn at the crime-scene that the attacker after being wounded identified himself as Noorul Hasan. The witness quoted him as saying that “I have come from Waziristan to die”.