Renowned eye specialist and former KMC officer Dr Birbal Ginani shot dead

An eye specialist and former director of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was gunned down on Thursday evening while he was travelling in a car in the Garden area near the Lyari Expressway. A nurse present in the car was also injured in the attack.

Dr Birbal Ginani, 62, was shot dead and the nurse, Quratul Ain, 35, was injured within the limits of the Garden police station. The incident took place just before Iftar near Goodluck Hall, Garden.

Police said that as they received the information, they rushed to the spot where they found a man and a woman lying critically wounded inside a car. The victims were rushed to a hospital for treatment with the help of rescue teams. At the hospital, Dr Ginani succumbed to his injuries.

Talking to The News, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Aziz, chief of the District City police, said the police had preserved the crime scene and initiated investigations into the target killing.

The officer explained that the eye specialist had been running his clinic in the Ranchor Lane area since long and he was a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. After closing his clinic on Thursday evening, he was heading towards his residence in his car along with nurse Quratul Ain when his vehicle was targeted by unidentified armed men in the Garden area.

SSP Aziz said police had also talked to some witnesses, who narrated that they had not seen the suspects but just heard gunshots. They later saw the vehicle that had come under attack. The CCTV footage available presently also did not picture the suspects as it only captured the vehicle of Dr Ginani, due to which it was too early to confirm the number of suspects and whether they were on a motorcycle or on foot, he added.

The SSP said he had directed his subordinates to check all the CCTV cameras installed in the adjoining areas of the locality where the incident took place. He added that soon the police would confirm the number of suspects and would be in a state to develop the sketches of the attackers.

He explained that he had also talked to the injured nurse who narrated that she did not see any suspects chasing them or firing at the vehicle. She added that she only heard gunshots and was injured after that.

Dr Ginani received a bullet wound in his head which became the cause of his death. The investigators also found bullet shells of a 9mm pistol from the crime scene that were sent to the forensic division of the Sindh police for examination. Initial investigations suggest that it was target killing.

SSP Aziz said he had also talked to the family members of Dr Ginani who stated that they had no enmity with anyone and the eye specialist had not received any threat prior to the incident. Dr Ginani served as the KMC senior director health. He retired from the service some two years ago.

Provincial minister for minority affairs Giyanchand Essrani took notice of the murder of the renowned eye specialist, calling it an unfortunate and condemnable incident. The minister also expressed his condolences to Dr Ginani’s family. He said he had contacted Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon and asked him to arrest the killers as soon as possible.

The KMC officers’ association also announced three-day mourning for Dr Ginani who had also earned fame for his involvement in humanitarian causes. The deceased eye specialist also served as the medical superintendent of Spencer Eye Hospital under the KMC.

KMC officers stated that Dr Ginani served the city during his government service spanning more than three decades. Under his supervision, thousands of free operations were performed for poor and deserving patients of eye diseases. A couple of months ago, Dr Genani and his daughter completed their MBA together from the Institute of Health and Business Management of Jinnah Sindh Medical University.