KARACHI - A man was killed while three others were wounded in two separate sectarian attacks, forcing the security agencies to ban pillion ridding immediately till 10th of Muharram-ul-Haram.
According to details, gunmen, ridding on a motorbike, opened fire at 60-years-old Mansoor Zaidi and his son 20-years-old Ammar Zaidi near their residence located in Block 8, Gulistan-e- Jauhar.
The assailants fled soon after their operation was completed, while the victims were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) where doctors pronounced Mansoor dead while said Ammar’s condition was critical. SP Dr Fahad said that both the victims were heading home when the assailants targeted them and managed to escape. Deceased Mansoor Zaidi was the trustee of an Imambargha, Imam Zain-ul-Abideen, and was also running a private school in the same locality.
While the law-enforcement agencies personnel were busy collecting evidences from the spot that another similar incident took place in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 3, where gunmen, ridding on a motorbike, resorted to firing outside a house where a majlis for females was going on. Resultantly, two persons standing outside the house, namely Syed Jawad Raza and Adeel Abbas were wounded.
Both the victims were rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors said their condition was stable.
Following the incidents, Sindh Police spokesperson immediately imposed a ban on pillion ridding from October 8 to 13. Police collected empty 9mm pistol shells from both the crime scenes and dispatched these to the forensic division of Sindh Police where experts stated that the same weapons had been used in both the incidents.
It is worth-mentioning here that Gulistan-e-Jauhar has been tense since the start of the holy month when two sectarian groups clashed on the second day of Muharram over the excessive use of loudspeaker in the locality.
Taking cognizance of the situation, Sindh Police IG AD Khawaja directed police to remain on a high alert till the next orders. Khawaja also issued directives for arresting the culprits. At the same time, he directed police officials to beef up the security across the province.
Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) has condemned both the incidents, demanding the arrest of those involved.
In statement issued here, MWM put a question mark over the performance of law- enforcement agencies, saying they had made tall claims during the Karachi operation which stood exposed now.
Governor Sindh Dr Ishart-ul-Ebad and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the sudden spree of sectarian killings, and directed the concerned officials to take stern action against the perpetrators.