SAHIWAL -  The Majlis-e-Wahatul Muslameen (MWM) District Sahiwal general secretary was gunned down in an apparent incident of target killing here on Monday.

The police said the incident took place outside his home in Chak 76-5R when two motorcyclists shot dead Dr Muhammad Qasim, general secretary MWM Sahiwal District.

According to police and locals, Dr Qasim was at home when suddenly an unknown person called him to his clinic. The police sources informed that as he came out of his home, two assailants, riding a motorcycle, fired indiscriminate gunshots, killing him on the spot. The assailants made good their escape from the scene after the crime. On information, the Noor Shah Police reached the scene and shifted the dead body to Civil Hospital Sahiwal for post-mortem.

The police sources insisted that murder of Dr Qasim is target killing, arguing that the intelligence agencies had issued a red alert regarding any such incident on January 26. “Despite the warning, the Noor Shah Police did not bother to take precautions or enhance security of religious scholars who could be the soft target for terrorists to trigger sectarian rift,” they pointed out.

The Noor Shah Police have launched investigation with no FIA till filing of this report.