Pak religious leader Maulana Adil Khan killed, Imran Khan blames India for triggering sectarian rift but fails to provide evidence
Police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said the cleric and his driver were both killed in the attack Saturday evening, which took place in the middle class neighborhood of Shah Faisal Colony.
New Delhi: Gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed Maulana Dr Adil Khan, a religious scholar and head of Karachi’s Jamia Farooqia seminary in Pakistan. Maulana Adil was the son of late prominent scholar Maulana Saleemullah Khan, who founded the Jamia Farooqia.
According to a police statement, as the Vigo car carrying Dr Adil stopped near a shopping centre in Shah Faisal Colony to purchase sweets, armed pillion riders opened indiscriminate fire on the car and fled.
Khan held a doctorate in religious studies, received training in his father’s seminary and had taught in Malaysia.
Police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said the cleric and his driver were both killed in the attack Saturday evening, which took place in the middle class neighborhood of Shah Faisal Colony.
Khan was rushed to a private hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, said the hospital’s spokesperson Anjum Rizvi. Police said the driver died before reaching a government hospital.
Pakistan has a history of sectarian enmity between Sunni and Shiite extremists. Attacks by both sides have claimed hundreds of lives, including those of religious scholars.
Counter-terrorism police officer Raja Umar Khitab said the attack appeared to be a “conspiracy to trigger sectarian violence.” A heavy contingent of police as well as Sindh Rangers soon reached the site of the incident and a probe with the help of CCTV cameras was undertaken.
After analysing the footage, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) incharge Raja Umar Khitab said that it shows three persons fleeing the site. “There might have been more nearby as back up,” he said.
“This is a conspiracy to incite sectarian violence,” he added.