Head of local Shia organisation shot dead in Hyderabad, Pakistan

HYDERABAD, Pakistan – A Shia cleric was shot dead outside his residence in Latifabad town within the limits of B-Section police station on Sunday.

Syed Mohsin Raza Jaffri, 70, was watering the lawn outside his house in the morning when two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle fired at him and fled. Jaffri was immediately shifted to Bhittai Hospital, but did not survive the attack.

SHO Malik Qamar said that the culprits used a 9mm pistol in the attack. The police have recovered four to five shells from the site. “Eyewitnesses have told us that one of the attackers was wearing a helmet while the other was wearing a cap,” he added. He claimed that although many people had witnessed the shooting, most of them were unwilling to cooperate with the police.

Jaffri was the head of Anjuman-i-Guldasta-i-Akbari, which organises Latifabad’s largest Muharram 9 procession. Shia Ulema Council leader Taj Ali Shah and representatives of dozens of organisation have condemned the killing. “He was a kind and friendly person,” said Shah. “We don’t know if he had any enemies.”

Shahid Naqvi, a nephew of the deceased, told The Express Tribune that the FIR would be lodged when Jaffri’s elder son Ali Hyder Jaffri returned from China on Monday. Jaffri, a retired official of the State Bank of Pakistan, is survived by his wife and three sons.

Enraged members of the community closed the markets in some parts of Latifabad and protests have been erupt in the streets.

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