By IANS,
Islamabad : Chief of the banned Pakistani outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba and religious scholar Sher Ali Haideri was gunned down along with an associate early Monday, triggering protests in several Sindh towns, including Karachi, police said.
Haideri, a renowned religious scholar, was returning to his hometown Khairpur in Sindh province from a ceremony in Pir Jo Goth when he was attacked, Online news agency quoted district police officer Pir Mohammad Shah as saying.
The attackers sprayed bullets on his vehicle killing him and his assistant Imtiaz Phalphoto on spot, Shah said. Six people were also injured in the attack.
Haideri’s guards retaliated, killing an attacker, while the other assailants managed to flee the scene, the officer said.
Haideri’s killing could be the result of personal enmity, Shah said.
After the government banned the Sipah-e-Sahaba, Haideri had floated the Millat-e-Islamia that was also banned. He thereafter created the Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunat.
After Haideri’s killing, angry protesters set ablaze two vehicles, including a bus, blocked roads in the Nagan Chowrangi area of Karachi, fired in the air and pelted stones.
Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunat activists also stoned vehicles in Hyderabad and Sukkur towns.
The Pakistan Ulema Council, while condemning Haideri’s murder, announced three days of mourning. The council’s information secretary, Nasser-u-Din described the killing as a conspiracy to incite sectarian violence in the country.
Muttahida Quami Movement leader Altaf Hussain, in a statement from London, strongly denounced Haideri’s murder and termed it a bid to disrupt religious harmony in Sindh.