Religious scholar killed in Jauhar laid to rest

The funeral prayers of Jamia Abu Bakar Islamia’s principal Maulana Ziaur Rahman were held at the Model Colony Ground on Thursday. He had been shot dead by unidentified suspects in Block 15 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Tuesday night.

Rahman’s funeral was attended by a large number of people, including family, friends, colleagues and even District Korangi SSP Hassan Sardar Niazi. The religious scholar was later laid to rest in the Malir Cantonment graveyard.

Ahle Hadith leader Hafiz Abdul Hameed Amir said that those who do not want peace in Pakistan were responsible for Rahman’s murder. He urged the government to ensure that the culprits are arrested and brought to justice. Rahman’s friends also slammed the incident.

Though the police on Wednesday registered a case over the killing with suspicions of the Indian spy agency RAW’s involvement, they have failed to make any progress.

The Sharea Faisal police had collected 11 empty shells — seven of a 30-bore pistol and four of a 9mm pistol — from the crime scene and sent them for forensic analysis.

FIR No. 688/23 was registered under Section 302/34 on the complaint of the victim’s cousin Abdullah Chaudhry. Rahman belonged to the Ahle Hadith school of thought, and was also part of the five-member Sarparast Committee of the recently formed Ahle Hadith Action Committee.