PPP leader murdered in Baldia Town laid to rest

A leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) who had been gunned down in Baldia Town was laid to rest in the locality on Monday.

The funeral prayer for Shaukat Hammad Baloch was offered at a mosque in Baldia Town, where he was later buried. PPP leaders, including Saeed Ghani and Qadir Khan Mandokhel, party workers and locals attended the funeral prayer in large numbers.

Eyewitness Ismail claimed that the incident in which Baloch lost his life was an act of target killing. He said that two unmasked motorcyclists were involved in the incident, adding that firing had occurred during an attempt to apprehend one of the suspects, but there was no mugging.

PPP leader Mandokhel demanded strict action and immediate arrest of the culprits. He also called for a judicial inquiry into the incident. “Targeted killings began with the start of the caretaker government.”

Police said that the statement of the eyewitness of the incident has been recorded, adding that a murder case has been registered at the Ittehad Town police station on the complaint of the victim’s brother.

According to the FIR, two unidentified men had fired at Baloch, and one of them had been caught by him, but the culprits fired more shots and fled. However, reads the FIR, the complainant can identify the culprits if they are brought before him.

Baloch had been killed outside his home in the Abidabad area of Baldia Town late on Sunday night. He was the senior vice president of the PPP for UC-31 District Keamari, and an anchorman and a singer as well.

According to the initial investigation of the police, officials said that the incident seemed to be the outcome of resistance during an attempted mugging, but they were investigating the case from different angles.

Caretaker Sindh chief minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has taken notice of the murder and directed the police to arrest the killers immediately. He has also sought a detailed report on the incident from the Karachi police chief.

Baloch was the second PPP leader to have been murdered in the city in less than a week. Muhammad Hussainul Huda, alias Amjad Hussain, had been gunned down in an act of target killing in the Orangi Town neighbourhood on August 17.

In a major breakthrough, the law enforcement agencies on Sunday had claimed to have arrested two key suspects for their alleged involvement in the target killing of Hussain.

The arrested suspects were identified as Anwar Saeed, alias Munna, and Kaleem. Police also claimed that the arrested suspects had admitted to committing the crime.

Police said that based on the revelations and evidence brought to light by the key suspect, efforts were under way to identify and capture other accomplices involved in the incident.

It was learnt that the key suspect, Saeed, was arrested by the Iqbal Market police, while Kaleem was arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department of the Sindh police. Interestingly, Saeed was also accompanying the victim when the incident took place.

“Anwar Saeed is a PPP worker and an aide of the slain PPP leader. He had joined the PPP four years ago after leaving the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan [MQM-P],” Iqbal Market SHO Rizwan Qureshi told The News.

The officer said that the deceased was the PPP’s incharge for UC-26, while Kaleem was the MQM-P’s incharge for the same UC. It was a preplanned target killing, claimed the SHO.

“Kaleem asked Saeed to lock the office from the inside to stop other PPP workers from coming outside while he kills Hussain. Saeed did what he was asked as soon as Kaleem came with the others and chambered his gun.”

The officer said Saeed was a perpetrator, but he wanted to be the complainant in the case to fool the investigators, adding that Kaleem was also a wanted criminal involved in more than two dozen cases.