Someone tried to burn down our house, says Prof Auj’s son

Karachi

Dr Hassan Auj, son of the late Professor Dr Shakeel Auj, has claimed that some unidentified people attempted to burn down their residence, situated within the premises of Karachi University, in broad daylight on Thursday afternoon.

Prof Dr Shakeel Auj was gunned down on the Nipa flyover on September 18, 2014, when he had been on his way to attend a ceremony at the Iranian Culture Centret where he was to receive a Tamgha-e-Imtiaz  for his services to Islamic Studies.

Dr Hassan, who works at the KU clinic as the campus medical officer, said he was in the shower when he saw one of the trees behind his house had caught fire. 

“I immediately called campus security, the local police and fire tenders. The firemen found empty alcohol bottles and other flammable items,” he said while talking to The News. “We do not have proper concrete walls and the house is surrounded by hedges. They can easily be trespassed. I believe someone intentionally tried to light the tree on fire. The electricity cables were lying above the tree. If we hadn’t called the firemen in time then the melted cables would have eventually fallen over and caused massive damage.”

Dr Hassan said he had brought the incident to the notice of law enforcers and the KU administration. However, he claimed, the police was deliberately underplaying the matter. “Not a single person from the campus management has visited my house or even called us,” he said.

“I am going to file an FIR about this ‘mishap’,” he said. “In May 2015, I was planning to hold a press conference to talk about my father’s case but, just a couple of days before, my car was damaged by unknown persons while it was parked outside the house. I believe it was a message for me and my family.”