Pakistani journalist gunned down, media baffled

Pakistani journalist gunned down, media baffled

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Islamabad: On Wednesday, Karanchi witnessed the second killing of a media person in a single day as a senior journalist was shot in the Pakistan port city by unidentified assailants, police said.

The 42-year-old journalist, Aftab Alam had previously worked with Geo News, and was also associated with Samaa TV. According to Dawn online reports, he was gunned down near his home in Sector 11-C area of north Karachi.

Geo News further reported that Alam was leaving home to pick up his children from school when he was shot in the head. Also, he was unemployed since the past year pertaining to health issues.

Aftab Alam
Source: thenews.com.pk

Alam was immediately rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors declared him dead. According to the initial reports, Deputy Inspector General of Police Feroz Shah said that the incident appeared to have been pre-planned. This can be proven from the fact that the two gunmen riding a motorcycle fired a single shot which hit Alam in the head. This is a signature method used by target killers. Three bullet casings were also recovered from the crime site.

A day before Alam was shot, an engineer Arshad Ali Jafri, who was also associated with Geo News, was gunned down in an attack on the channel's van in Karachi's Bahadurabad area.

So far, the police are clueless about the motive of shooting Alam, while the investigators have given their surety on this being a murder attempt.

This incident has left the entire Pakistani media baffled. Alam's killing posed a question mark over the efficiency of the government and the security agencies' capabilities, the Karachi Union of Journalists said. The union has further demanded arrest of the killers of both Alam and Jafri.

The police have been directed by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to submit a detailed report on Wednesday's killing. He has also ordered the police to immediately arrest the killers and suspects.

Sindh Interior Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal demanded a report on the attack from Inspector General of Police Ghulam Haider Jamali. He said that such attacks cannot be a hindrance in their path to fight against terrorism in the province.

(With inputs from IANS)

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