Journalist gunned down in Kandhkot
JACOBABAD- A journalist of Kandhkot was gunned down at midnight on October 20, 2002, allegedly in revenge of his reporting during the election campaign.
The murder of Shahid Ali Soomro, reporter of a Hyderabad-based Sindhi daily, is blamed on Waheed Ali Bijarani and Muhammad Ali Bijarani, both sons of Sardar Sher Muhammad Bijarani, and their three accomplices. Reports said the assailants arrived at the house of Soomro in the Mirzanpur locality of Kandhkot at midnight and called him to come out of his home. When Soomro came out, the assailants tried to kidnap him but on resistance opened fire at him with Klashnikov and TT pistol and escaped in a white-coloured Alto car. Shahid Soomro was taken to the hospital in critical condition but died on way to the hospital.
Kandhkot police took immediate action after the incident and arrested one of the accused, Muhammad Ali Bijarani, who is also the nephew of former federal minister and the Member National Assembly (MNA)-elect, Mir Hazzar Khan Bijarani.
The residents of Kandhkot mourned the death of Shahid Soomro. On October 21, 2002, businesses remained shut in the town as large number of people turned out for the funeral.
The local politicians have strongly condemned the murder of Soomro. A central leader of the Sindh National Front (SNF), Gul Muhammad Jakhrani, warned of a protest movement if the remaining culprits were not arrested in three days. Taluka Police Officer (TPO) of Kandhkot Niaz Chandio, however, told sources that one culprit had been arrested and hoped the remaining culprits would be arrested soon. The A-Section police have registered the case against Waheed Ali Bijarani, Muhammad Ali Bijarani and two unknown accused on the complaint of victim’s brother, Azizullah Soomro.
Waseem Shamsi adds from Sukkur: Shahid Soomro, 26, was buried in Kandhkot graveyard on October 21, 2002. Thousands of the residents of Kandhkot and journalists from all over Sindh attended the funeral. He left behind two sons, three daughters and mother to mourn his untimely demise.
Sources close to the family of the deceased said Shahid Soomro’s reporting during electioneering had irked the MPA-elect of Kandhkot, Mir Mehboob Bijarani. He was receiving threats of life, however, he was not scared and ultimately “paid the price for his independent reporting”, they said.
The murder of Soomro has spread a wave of grief and anguish among the journalists of upper Sindh. A condolence meeting was held at the Sukkur Press Club on October 21. The meeting presided over by Shamim Shamsi and attended by Patron Mushtaq Jilani, General-Secretary Lala Asad Pathan, Khwaja Jawed and others, condemned the incident and demanded of the authorities immediate arrest of the killers. The meeting also called for providing protection to the journalist community. The station house officer (SHO) of A-Section Police Station, Kandhkot, told newsmen by telephone that five people, including two brothers of Mehboob Bijarani — Waheed Ali Bijarani and Muhammad Ali Bijarani — Muhammad Bachkani and two others had been booked for the crime on the complaint of Aziz Soomro, the brother of the deceased. He added that Shahid Soomro had identified the killers before he died.
Source: The News
Date:10/22/2002
” 
” 
” 
” 
