Top cleric among 5 killed in Karachi

Mufti Saeed among 4 people gunned down in Karachi
Updated at: 0330 PST, Friday, March 12, 2010
KARACHI: Prominent religious clerics and the head of Aalami Khatm-e-Naboowat organization Molana Saeed Jalalpuri were among four people gunned down while another two sustained wounds on Thursday when some unknown assailants opened fire on them, Geo news reported police sources as saying.

SSP Gulshan Javed Mahar told Geo News that the assassination took place on Abul Hassan Isfahani Road in Gulzar Hijri locality of Karachi in the wee hours on Thursday.

Also, two people were taken under custody following the firing incident, he said.

The motive behind the killing was yet to be known.

Four deceased persons were identified as Mufti Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri, Mufti Huzaifa Jalapuri, Mufti Qamar Zaman and Mufti Atiq ur Rheman.

The injured persons have been admitted to hospital for medical attainment while the dead bodies have been deposited in hospital for postmortem, hospital sources said.


Martyred Ulemas’ funeral after Friday prayer
Updated at: 0630 PST, Friday, March 12, 2010
KARACHI: The funeral prayer of the prominent religious cleric and the head of Aalami Majlis-e-Khatm-e-Naboowat organization Molana Saeed Jalalpuri and others will be offered after Friday’s prayer today, while they will be laid to rest within the limits of Molana Yousuf Ludhianvi’s mausoleum, Geo news reported.

Meanwhile, religious scholars have called upon government of Sindh for judicial inquiry into his assassination.

This was decided during a meeting comprising of many religious clerics, which held in Banuri Town late on Thursday night.

Dead bodies of the martyred Molana Mufti Saeed Jalalpuri, his son and others had been shifted to Jamiatul Uloom Islamia located in Banuri Town yesterday.

Talking to newsmen in Banuri Town, Ameer Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Karachi Qari Uthman held the Sindh government responsible for tragic assassination of Mufi Saeed Jalalpuri and others, demanding government of booking the assailants to justice at any cost.

Police have also closed down for traffic, the Jamsheed Road stretched from Guru Mandir to Jail Chowrangi owing to security arrangements, besides deployment of heavy contingents of police and rangers, police sources said.


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Top cleric among 5 killed in Karachi

* Sipah-e-Sahaba chief in critical condition, four others wounded

KARACHI: At least five people have been killed and four others wounded as unidentified assailants attacked religious leaders from two different groups in separate incidents in the city on Thursday.

Maulana Ghafoor Nadeem: The central leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Nadeem was shot en route to the city courts near Annu Bhai Park, Nazimabad No 7. One of his sons, Mavia Nadeem, was killed on the spot, while the SSP leader, his sons Shoaib and Rashid and security guards Nadeem and Waseem were severely injured and rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. They were later shifted to the Liaquat National Hospital, where Maulana Nadeem is said to be in critical condition, while the others are reportedly out of danger. Maulana Nadeem was also serving as the central information secretary of the Ahle-e-Sunnat-wal-Jamaat (ASJ).

Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri: Seperately, the leader of the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat, his son and two others were gunned down in Sachal police precincts. According to police, Jalalpuri, his 16-year-old son Huzaifa, friend Fakhar Zaman; and driver Abdul Rehman, were on their way to a mosque where Jalalpuri delivers a sermon every Thursday.

Gunmen on two motorcycles intercepted their car near Post Office Society and opened fire on the vehicle. The injured were taken to the Patel Hospital, where doctors pronounced them death.

The bodies of the victims were then shifted to the Jamia Binoria. Police have reportedly arrested two men suspected of involvement in the killings but no FIR had been registered until the filing of this report. Tensions gripped the city following the attacks, with the Gurumandir area was nearly rendered off-limits as mourners gathered there overnight, while localities including Stadium Road, Nagan Chowrangi, Shah Faisal Colony and Old Golimaar witnessed panic and sporadic firing. atif raza


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Three Sunni Muslim clerics killed in Pakistan
12 Mar 2010 04:03:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
KARACHI, March 12 (Reuters) - Four people, including three Muslim clerics, were gunned down and one wounded in a drive-by shooting in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi in a suspected sectarian attack, police said on Friday.

Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri, a senior Sunni Muslim cleric, was ambushed by three gunmen riding on a motor-bike as he was travelling in a car with his three colleagues late on Thursday.

"The attackers opened indiscriminate firing on the car of Mr. Saeed Jalalpuri as he was returning home after delivering a sermon in his mosque," Karachi police chief Wasim Ahmed told Reuters.

Two other clerics and a friend of Jalalpuri travelling in the car were killed while another man was wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"It is a targeted attack. It could be a sectarian attack. We are looking at all possibilities," Ahmed said.

Earlier on Thursday, gunmen attacked a radical Sunni Muslim cleric, Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, in the city. Nadeem was wounded but his son was killed in the attack.

Thousands of people have been killed in tit-for-tat attacks by rival militants from Pakistan's majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite Muslim sects in the past two decades.

Thirty-one people were killed, many of them Shi'ites, in two bomb attacks in Karachi last month when Shi'ites were celebrating a religious ceremony.

Forty-three people were killed in a bomb attack on a Shi'ite procession marking Ashura, one of the most important events in the Shi'ite calender, in December. Officials suspect al Qaeda-backed Sunni Muslim militants were behind these attacks. (Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sugita Katyal)

(For full coverage of Pakistan and Afghanistan, click on [ID:nAFPAK] (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)


Three Sunni Muslim clerics killed in Pakistan
12 Mar 2010 04:03:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
KARACHI, March 12 (Reuters) - Four people, including three Muslim clerics, were gunned down and one wounded in a drive-by shooting in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi in a suspected sectarian attack, police said on Friday.

Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri, a senior Sunni Muslim cleric, was ambushed by three gunmen riding on a motor-bike as he was travelling in a car with his three colleagues late on Thursday.

"The attackers opened indiscriminate firing on the car of Mr. Saeed Jalalpuri as he was returning home after delivering a sermon in his mosque," Karachi police chief Wasim Ahmed told Reuters.

Two other clerics and a friend of Jalalpuri travelling in the car were killed while another man was wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"It is a targeted attack. It could be a sectarian attack. We are looking at all possibilities," Ahmed said.

Earlier on Thursday, gunmen attacked a radical Sunni Muslim cleric, Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, in the city. Nadeem was wounded but his son was killed in the attack.

Thousands of people have been killed in tit-for-tat attacks by rival militants from Pakistan's majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite Muslim sects in the past two decades.

Thirty-one people were killed, many of them Shi'ites, in two bomb attacks in Karachi last month when Shi'ites were celebrating a religious ceremony.

Forty-three people were killed in a bomb attack on a Shi'ite procession marking Ashura, one of the most important events in the Shi'ite calender, in December. Officials suspect al Qaeda-backed Sunni Muslim militants were behind these attacks. (Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sugita Katyal)

(For full coverage of Pakistan and Afghanistan, click on [ID:nAFPAK] (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)


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Mufti Jalalpuri, others laid to rest in Karachi
Updated at: 1755 PST, Friday, March 12, 2010
KARACHI: Mufti Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri of Aalmi Tahaffuz-i-Khatm-i-Nabuat, his son Huzaifa Jalalpuri and close associates Fakheruz Zaman and Abdul Rehman were laid to rest at Jamia Masjid Khatman-un-Nabi.

Mufti Jalalpuri, his son and other associates were gunned down on Thursday evening when they were returning from Jamia Masjid Khatman-un-Nabi on Metrovill Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal area.

Their funeral prayers were offered at Jamia Masjid Binori Town. Dr. Abdul Razzaq led the funeral prayers, which were attended by a large number of Ulema and students.

On this occasion, religious cleric advised the enraged people to stay calm and expressed grief on the killing of noted scholars.

People close to Maulana Jalalpuri said that he was an active member of Shahid Khatme-e-Nubavat Tehrik. He was receiving written threats by the enemies of Islam.

Mufti Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri was considered a close friend of Maulana Muahammad Yousuf Ludhyanvi Shaheed and Mufti Nizam ud Din Shamzi Shaheed.


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Slain cleric, SSP leader’s son laid to rest: Police say same culprits responsible for both attacks

By Atif Raza

KARACHI: Police claimed on Friday that the same culprits were responsible for the two separate attacks on religious leaders on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a large number of people attended the funeral prayers for the chief of the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, Saeed Ahmed Jalalpuri, his son Huzaifa Jalal and his two associates at Jamia Masjid Binori Town in Guru Mandir area on Friday. They were laid to rest at Masjid Khatm-e-Nabuwwat in Metroville in Gulshan-e-Iqbal,

Unidentified men had gunned down the four men on Thursday night near Post Office Society.

The funeral prayers for Mavia Nadeem, son of Sipah-e-Sahaba leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Nadeem, were offered at Siddique-e-Akbar mosque at Nagan Chowrangi that was attended by a large number of Ahle-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat activists and others.

He was laid to rest at Muhammad Shah Graveyard in North Karachi.

Mavia was also gunned down on Thursday when four men had opened fire on him in Nazimabad when he was accompanying his father on the way to city courts.

Mourners at both funeral prayers shouted slogans again the government and arrest of the murderers.

The funeral prayers for Maulana Jalalpuri were led by Maulana Abdul Razzak Sikander, while Maulana Masoodur Rehman led the prayers for Mavia.

A heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel were deployed at both funerals, while police closed the traffic as a precautionary measure.

Police believe that the same culprits were responsible for the killings of Mavia Nadeem and Maulana Saeed Jalalpuri, his son and two associates, and released the sketches of the suspects.

A source in the Sindh police said investigation would be initiated with the assistance of the Crime Investigation Department and the Specialised Investigation Unit.

The source said since the culprits failed to murder Maulana Ghafoor Nadeem and create sectarian strife, they went on to attack Jalalpuri.

He said in both incidents, there were four culprits on two motorcycles and empty shells of 9mm pistols were found at both crime scenes. He also said according to eyewitness accounts, same motorcycles were used in both the incidents.

Panic in city: Panic prevailed in various areas of the city, particularly North Karachi, Orangi, SITE and Abul Hassan Ispahani Road, following the two incidents, and commercial activities remained suspended. Most of the petrol stations were also closed in different areas of the city.

Leaders of the defunct SSP announced they would stage a protest demonstration over the killing of their leader’s son in front of the Chief Minister’s House after the funeral, but cancelled the plan after negotiations with the law enforcement agencies.

A spokesman for the Ahle-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat told journalists that his organisation demands the government to provide foolproof security to its leaders and arrest the murderers of Mavia. He also demanded that compensation should be paid to Mavia’s family.