School system official gunned down in ‘targeted attack’ in Jauhar

An official of a school system was gunned down in Karachi on Sunday night. Police have ruled out the possibility of the incident being a street crime, as they believe the attack on the victim was targeted.

Syed Khalid Raza, the Karachi region deputy director of the Dar-e-Arqam Schools and the vice chairman of the Federation of Private Schools, was shot dead in Block 7 of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood. The deceased was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Gulistan-e-Jauhar SHO Safdar Mashwani ruled out the possibility of a street crime, saying that the police had not found any clue suggesting that the incident had occurred while resisting a mugging because the victim’s phone, wallet and other things were found on him.

“He was shot dead as soon as he stepped out of his house,” said the officer, adding that two men on a motorbike were behind the incident. “One of them fired a single shot, killing the victim on the spot.”

The SHO said the victim was shot in the head, suggesting that the killer was a sharpshooter. He suspected that the incident might be a target killing, saying that the actual motive was yet to be ascertained.

He said the police were trying to find out if the victim had been facing any kind of threat or if he had an enmity, adding that the case was being investigated from different angles, while they were also looking for CCTV camera footage.

A large number of the victim’s family members and colleagues gathered at the hospital shouting slogans against the murder. Criticising the failure of the Sindh government and law enforcement agencies in controlling the rising incidents of street crime, they demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

All Pakistan Private Schools Association Chairman Syed Wali Warsi and General Secretary Shahryar Ali censured Raza’s murder. A joint statement quoted them as saying that it seemed that bandits ruled the city and the police were helpless, as no one cared about the safety of the lives and properties of the residents.

They asked the provincial government to play their role in arresting the murderers immediately. “Everyone has the right to protest,” they said. They also demanded that the government immediately issue arms licences to school owners.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also condemned the incident, and sought a detailed report from the city police chief, ordering that the incident be investigated from every aspect.