Karachi once again on verge of sectarian violence: Three Shia lawyers gunned down

In what appeared to be a targeted sectarian violence, three lawyers belonging to Shia sect were gunned down and another sustained severe injuries in a firing incident near the City Court in the Pakistan Chowk area of Karachi.

It is vital to mention here that on Wednesday two activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a reorganized version of the banned militant outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, – were killed outside the city courts.

According to the reports, gunmen sprayed the lawyers’ car with bullets when they were going home from City Courts. One of the deceased was a senior lawyer and the others were identified as his son and nephew.

SSP Naeem Sheikh said that four suspects on two motorcycles carried out the attack. In his view, the incident was apparently one of sectarian violence as the lawyers belonged to the Shia sect.

The police, however, said that it can only be confirmed after the investigations whether the incident was sectarian in nature or not.

Although the fourth one who was driving the car suffered bullet injuries, he drove the vehicle to Civil Hospital, SSP South Naeem Ahmed Shaikh stated. “They fired five to six shots as we have found four spent bullet casings of a 9mm pistol and one casing of a 30-bore pistol”.

Despite the presence of a police van outside the nearby office of a daily newspaper, the assailants managed to flee. It is worth to note here that three policemen, who were in the van but did not act to arrest or kill the assailants, were detained by police on the orders of the SSP South pending a departmental investigation.

Police officials confirmed that the deceased lawyers were members of the legal aid committee of the Shia Lawyers Forum, but currently they were not handling any high-profile case.

Legal fraternity, on the call of the Karachi Bar Association, announced to observe a complete boycott of courts on Thursday. KBA President Mahmoodul Hasan condemned the murders, saying the lawyers would stay away from courts and hold a condolence reference.

Sindh High Court (SHC) Mushir Alam while taking notice of the killings directed IG Sindh Syed Mushtaq Shah and the lawyers’ representatives to appear in the court today (Thursday).

At the same time, IG Sindh has formed two teams to probe the matter, which would be headed by SSP Sheikh. The teams would comprise of SSP Tariq Dharejo, SSP Niaz Ahmed Khosa and SSP Shahjahan Khan.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.