KHAIRPUR: Armed men shot dead banned Sipah-e-Sahaba chief Allama Ali Sher Hyderi, along with his associate Imtiaz Phulpoto, here on Monday.
Sources said Allama Hyderi was returning home after delivering a speech at a religious gathering in the Dost Muhammad Abro village within the limits of the Ahmedpur police station when he was attacked.
Police sources said one of the attackers, identified as Aashiq Ali Jagirani, was also killed in retaliatory fire by Hyderi’s bodyguards. Allama Hyderi was laid to rest at the Jamia Hyderia Madaris Luqman on Monday evening amid tight security. A large number of people attended his funeral.
Meanwhile, the SSP leader’s murder triggered violence in major towns of Sindh. The police have not registered an FIR so far, while a search operation was continuing to arrest the killers.
Meanwhile, two persons were killed and another sustained injuries in firing by paramilitary forces that tried to stop an angry mob from removing railway tracks. The dead were identified as Zulfiqar Jalbani and Saeedullah Memon, while Zeeshan Panhyar sustained injuries.
Khairpur DPO Pir Muhammad Shaikh termed Hyderi’s killing a result of personal enmity. However, the murder bore all the hallmarks of a sectarian killing, with the head of the local police saying “it was a targeted attack on Allama Hyderi”.
The DPO said the murder took place over the possession of a piece of land and had nothing to do with sectarianism. He said the attacker had just been released from a jail in Karachi. He said Aashiq Jagirani’s brother, Qalandar Bakhsh, had murdered Allama Hyderi’s father, Haji Waris Khan Janwari, over the same issue and had been in jail. The DPO said six people sustained injuries in the shoot-out.
The bodies and the injured had been shifted to the Civil Hospital, where Hyderi’s supporters chanted slogans against the district administration and the police. Two bodyguards of Hyderi were among the
injured. They were identified as Farid Abbasi and Maulana Abdul Karim Marri.
The news of Hyderi’s killing spread, like a jungle fire triggering riots across the province. There were reports of aerial firing and armed activists forced shopkeepers to close their shops. The Army and the Rangers were called out to assist the police in maintaining the law and order.
The administration had sealed all the entry and exit points in Khairpur. The protesters removed the main railway tracks, suspending train link to the upcountry. The railways, however, managed to repair the damaged tracks after eight hours.
There were reports that the house of the suspected killer had been torched by the people in Luqman town. The DPO said the situation was under control and the followers of Hyderi had been cooperating with the administration in maintaining law and order.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ulema Council announced a seven-day mourning. Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi has been named as successor to Allama Hyderi. Allama Hyderi hailed from Khairpur. After matriculation, he joined Darul Uloom Shamusul Huda for religious education. He later joined the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba. He was the fourth chief of the banned outfit to be killed since it was formed in the late 80s. After the outfit was banned by former president Pervez Musharraf in February 2002, it was operating under the name of Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jama’at.
