Sindh MPA Aslam Abro’s brother, nephew killed after assailants open fire on their vehicle in Karachi

Sindh MPA Muhammad Aslam Abro’s brother and nephew were shot dead on Wednesday after unidentified assailants opened fire on their vehicle in Phase 7 of Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the vehicle that came under attack belonged to Aslam but he was not travelling with his brother and nephew.

He said that the victims had left their residence located near Khayaban-e-Shamsheer for Jacobabad at around 11:15am. The SSP added that their vehicle, a silver Toyota Vigo, came under attack at around 11:35am in Phase 7.

SSP Raza said that four passengers were critically injured in the attack and were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where 68-year-old Akram Abro and 40-year-old Shahryar Akram succumbed to their injuries.

An official statement from the Defence police station confirmed the same, identifying the injured as Abdullah Abro, 40, and Irshad Ali, 42.

SSP Raza said that the police had cordoned off the area and were checking the CCTV footage. He added that a team from the Crime Scene Investigation Unit had also been dispatched to the scene of the crime and evidence was being collected.

Aslam was elected to Sindh Assembly in 2018 on a PTI ticket but was expelled in 2021 for “violating the party’s instructions” during the Senate elections.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who is also the chairman of the PPP, strongly condemned the killing. In a statement, he termed the killing “sheer terrorism”.

“I hope that the accused involved in this act of terrorism will be brought to justice soon,” Bilawal said. He also offered his condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the recovery of those injured in the attack.

In a statement, the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) also strongly condemned the “brutal murder” of Akram, who it said was an advocate and hailed from the Jacobabad district.

In it, the SBC said the incident was a “complete failure of law enforcement agencies” and said it had “put a big question mark over their performance”.

It demanded that Sindh Inspector General Ghulam Nabi Memon and other authorities concerned take immediate notice of the incident, arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice forthwith.