Unidentified persons booked for killing MQM-P worker in Shah Faisal Colony

Police have registered a case against unidentified persons over the murder of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) worker who was killed in front of his wife in Shah Faisal Colony in the late hours of Saturday.

The 35-year-old MQM-P worker, Rehan, was shot in his chest in front of his wife. He was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where doctors pronounced him dead. He was a resident of Surjani Town and the father of two children. He was associated with the MQM-P’s Surjani Town Sector where he worked as a joint in-charge and cable operator.

Rehan’s family and friends said he had come to the house of his wife's aunt in Shah Faisal Colony and was standing outside to go back to his house in Surjani Town when two motorcyclists arrived. Upon seeing them, Rehan pushed his wife inside the house, and during this time, gunshots were heard, following which the injured Rehan fell on the road.

Rehan’s family members, friends, and MQM-P leaders and workers also reached JPMC. A parliamentarian-elect of the MQM-P, Sheikh Abdullah, he spoke to the media at the hospital and confirmed that the deceased man was associated with the party.

Quoting the victim’s wife, the MQM-P leader said the two people who shot Rehan did not steal anything from him. Abdullah added that there had also been a firing incident at a estate agency office in Surjani Town, in which the father of another MQM-P worker was injured.

The victim’s family and friends said the police were trying to colour the murder as death in a robbery bid, but there was no robbery as nothing had been taken from Rehan. "My home has been destroyed. Rehan was more than just a son-in-law; he was like a son to me," his grieving mother-in-law lamented. The family members and friends demanded immediate arrest of the murderers.

Rehan was laid to rest in a graveyard in Liaquatabad on Sunday. Earlier, his funeral prayers were offered at the Allah Wali Masjid, Sector 5, New Karachi. MQM-P Deputy Convener Abdul Wasim, and party leaders and supporters attended the funeral prayers.

Police have registered a case. They said it is yet to be ascertained whether the man was killed during a robbery bid or it was a target killing. Police are also trying to obtain footage of closed-circuit cameras installed in the vicinity in order to identify the suspects.