LARKANA: A paramedic, serving as store in-charge at the Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), was shot dead at point blank range by two unknown assailants riding a motorcycle near Lal Bungalow within the jurisdiction of the Dari police station on Friday.

The victim, Arif Ali Abbasi, was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. He had received a bullet wound in his chest. His companion, Sajjad Mirjat, escaped unhurt in the firing.

They were going to a hospital in Dari area when waylaid by the assailants on the way, it was gathered.

The area police suspected that personal enmity might be the motive for the attack. A hunt for the killers was under way, they added.

The incident prompted protest by office-bearers and members of the CMCH Paramedical Staff Association who assembled at the hospital’s emergency unit raising slogans against the killers and also against the police and district administration for failing to ensure safety and security of health workers.

Later, they suspended medical services and held a sit-in outside the unit along with family members and relatives of the deceased colleague.

ASP City Attiq-ur-Rehman Maikan twice visited the venue to convince the protesters to end the sit-in but in vain. It was continuing when the last reports came in late in the evening.

After initial inquiry, a spokesman for the district police ruled out possibility of a robbery attempt in the incident, saying that the motorcycle and mobile phone set of the deceased were present at the crime scene.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023