Dubai: Television journalist Mureed Abbas and his friend were gunned down in Karachi on Tuesday night.
Abbas, an anchorman working at the private television channel Bol News in Karachi, was allegedly shot by his business partner Atif Zaman who also tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. He was later admitted to a local hospital with critical injuries, according to Karachi police. Abbas’s friend Khizar Hayat was also shot on the spot and later succumbed to injuries in hospital.
Police officials said, citing initial details, that Abbas was killed during a fight over a personal dispute over some business investment which went wrong, Dawn news reported.
Initial investigations suggested that the accused Zaman had to pay back a debt to the TV news anchor. It is also believed that the alleged killer had threatened him with dire consequences.
Zaman had called the victim to a café in a posh area of Defence in Karachi and gunned down Abbas and his friend.
A video of the anchorman’s wife Zara Abbas has gone viral on social media where she claims that the accused Zaman had called her husband at 8pm to collect Rs5 million owed to him.
“We had invested our money in his business and he [Zaman] wasn’t giving it back to us and others, he would always make excuses,” she said.
Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor took to Twitter to condole with Abbas’s family
Karachi South DIG Sharjeel Kharal said that friends of the deceased informed police that he had a monetary dispute with someone.
The officer said that a police party raided the residence of the suspected killer and caught him attempting suicide. “The suspect shot himself in the chest,” he said, adding that the suspect was shifted to a local hospital in critical condition.
SSP South Sheraz Nazir said that the investigators are probing the element of personal enmity as the deceased journalist, earlier, filed a police complaint against few individuals.
Meanwhile, political leaders in Pakistan has condemned the killing of Abbas and sent condolences on his death.
Mariam Nawaz Sharif, Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), tweeted to express her sorrow over the unfortunate incident.
In a tweet, Mariam said: "May Allah’s blessings be with him and his family. Rest in peace."
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Haleem Adil Shaikh directed law enforcement agencies to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. He said the government firmly stands with the deceased family on the moment of sorrow and mourn.
PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb also condemned the killing of the anchorperson and prayed for eternal peace for his soul. She demanded that the government should take concrete and effective measures to protect the life of journalists.
