KARACHI: Funeral prayers of renowned religious scholar Maulana Adil, who had been assassinated along with his driver by armed men on Saturday night in the Shah Faisal neighbourhood of the metropolis, was offered in Jamia Farooqia here on Sunday.
As per details, Adil was laid to rest next to his father Maulana Saleemullah Khan at Farooqia University, amid tears and anguish.
Maulana Adil’s funeral prayers were offered at Jamia Farooqia Hub River Road Phase II. Besides scholars and other religious figures, a large number of attendees included students and devotees of the late scholar.
Acclaimed religious scholars Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani, Maulana Hanif Jalandhari, Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Maulana Rashid Soomro, Superintendent of Jamia Banuria Mufti Noman, and JI Karachi Chapter Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman also attended the funeral prayers of the deceased scholar.
Law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation into the case. Police confirmed that geo-fencing of the site where Maulana Adil was shot dead has been conducted.
Officials will obtain CCTV footage to see which way the assailants escaped after committing the crime.
According to police, the scholar was sitting in a Toyota Vigo, with the vehicle parked outside Shama shopping centre when suspects on motorcycles came up to him and shot him.
Police said that a third person, Umair, was also accompanying Maulana Adil and survived the incident. He had gone inside the shopping centre to buy some sweets.
The motorcyclists targeted him. It seems that he was being followed by terrorists, said police officials. They added that five spent 9mm casings were recovered from the site.
Police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said that three men were on a motorcycle. One got off and fired the shots. “We are gathering statements from eye-witnesses,” he said.
Memon said it was not a part of Maulana Adil’s routine to go through this path.
After analysing the footage, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in-charge Raja Umar Khitab said that it shows three persons fleeing the site. “There might have been more nearby as back up,” he said.
“This is a conspiracy to incite sectarian violence,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020