A senior lawyer of the Sindh High Court (SHC) was killed in an attack on New MA Jinnah Road in Jamshed Town on Wednesday evening. Maqbool-ur-Rehman was the legal adviser to the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ). The 45-year-old’s driver, Yousuf, suffered injuries.Police officials said that being the legal adviser to the ASWJ, he fought cases of activists of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), and a number of cases on missing person. Moreover, he had filed suits against the law enforcers over various offences.

Rehman was on the way to his home in Gulistan-i-Jauhar when he was intercepted by two motorcyclists near Islamia College. The attackers opened fire at him and fled.Public present at the scene of the crime immediately took the injured to hospital, where he expired while undergoing treatment.

Rehman was not accompanied by any guards, even though the SHC had directed the police to provide security for him, as he was representing over two dozen petitioners in cases of missing persons.

The security had been ordered on a petition filed the lawyer himself, who

said that he had been receiving death threats from unidentifiedpeople.

The petition also said he was running a non-government organisation to provide justice for the needy, but due to the death threats he had been unable to open his office. Even then, he was not provided with any security by the law enforcement agencies, according to the petition.

Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) East Khadim Hussain Rind, while talking to The News, said that there were four attackers, who were wearing helmets and used TT pistols in the attack.

He said the lawyer suffered multiple bullet wounds and that they had sent samples to the forensic department of the Sindh police.

He added that when the police reached the scene of the crime, they found a pistol in the lawyer’s hand and a repeater lying under the driver’s seat of the car.

SSP Rind termed the murder a target killing, saying that they were still ascertaining the facts and the motive behind the murder.

Later, activists and leaders of the ASWJ launched a protest outside the hospital over the murder of their legal adviser. They alleged that the murder had been orchestrated by a rival group. Rehman, who hailed from Abbottabad, has left behind a widow and four children. —Salis bin Perwaiz

Shamim Bano adds: The legal fraternity plans to boycott court proceedings in all five district courts on January 13 in protest against the murder of a senior lawyer, said President Karachi Bar Association Mehmood-ul-Hassan on Wednesday. Maqbool-ur-Rehman was on his way to his house when he was shot dead near the Islamia College roundabout on Wednesday evening.

Also, legal proceedings were suspended on Monday following the murder of Nasrullah Waraich in Lahore. The strike was called by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and endorsed by all district courts across the country.

When President SCBA Yasin Azad was questioned about the boycott of legal activities on a national level in case of Waraich’s death and not in Rehman’s, he said since the former was an ex-chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, the SCBA had announced a countrywide strike whereas the latter was a lawyer of the Sindh High Court. “Therefore, we would let the lawyers of Karachi decide.”

It must be noted that legal proceedings would also remain suspended on Saturday, the third time in the week, as a two-day strike had already been announced by the All Subordinate Judiciary for non-payment of salaries. As many as 20 lawyers were killed last year whereas two have already lost their lives since the beginning of this year.