Geo News satellite technician killed in Karachi attack

KARACHI: Just days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif claimed that target killings had practically ended in Karachi, gunmen attacked a DSNG van of Geo News in the Bahadurabad area on Tuesday night, killing a satellite engineer and wounding the driver.

Satellite technician Arshad Ali Jaffery, 45, and DSNG van driver Anees suffered wounds when three gunmen riding a motorcycle approached the stationary vehicle outside a department store in the Ferozeabad police remit and one of the attackers opened fire.

The injured were moved to the Aga Khan Hospital, where Jaffery died from six to seven bullet wounds to his chest, neck and upper torso. The driver was stated to be in a stable condition. He was hit by a single bullet in the shoulder.

Jaffery was a resident of Al-Noor Society, Malir, and had been working for Geo News for the past several years.

Talking to The News, DIG Munir Ahmed Shaikh of the East Range said that after being informed, police mobiles rushed to the crime scene and cordoned it off.

He said four Geo News employees had come to the Bahadurabad area for reporting. In the meantime, they stopped the DSNG in front of Naheed Superstore and two of the employees went inside to do some shopping, while Jaffery and Anees stayed in the van.

While shopping, the two employees heard gunshots and immediately rushed outside where they found their colleagues injured.

Witnesses told the police that the attackers wore Shalwar Kameez and sped away after the attack.

DIG Shaikh said the police found nine bullet shells of a 9mm pistol from the crime scene and were checking the CCTV footage.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah took notice of the incident and sought a report from the IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali.