Protest held outside IGP House over PTI leader’s murder

A group of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) national and provincial assembly lawmakers held a protest outside the IGP House in Karachi on Monday to protest against the killing of party leader Rana Sakhawat Rajput in District Kambar-Shahdadkot.

Rajput, a PTI candidate from NA-203, was assassinated by unknown assailants riding a motorbike, and the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, a banned Sindhi militant outfit, had claimed responsibility for the murder.

“This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in Sindh. In earlier, similar incidents, a hotel owner, cobbler and poor workers had lost their lives, and political opponents were targeted,” said PA opposition leader of the PTI Haleem Adil Sheikh, who led the protest.

He condemned the heinous hate crimes, accusing Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah of conspiring to destabilise the country, and of being a cohort of anti-state elements and a security risk to Pakistan.

The PTI leader claimed that the CM is a proponent of such heinous crimes because his biased narrative has been fuelling ethnically divisive sentiments in the province. Sheikh demanded that the assassins of Rajput, Fehmida Siyal and Nazim Jokhio be arrested at the earliest and brought to book, otherwise the PTI would extend its protest across the province.

PTI Karachi President MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, PA parliamentary party leader Bilal Ghaffar, MNA Saifur Rehman, and other members of the national and provincial assemblies also participated in the protest.

Later, a PTI delegation led by Zaman met the provincial police chief. Talking to the media after the meeting, the MPA said the IGP has completely failed to maintain law and order in the province, with citizens being murdered in broad daylight. He claimed the Sindh police have befriended outlaws. He said the IGP has sought one month’s time for arresting the culprits, adding that if the police chief fails to fulfil his commitment, the PTI would protest outside his office again.