Taxi-driver shot dead in Karachi killed over honour, confirms brother

KARACHI: A man shot dead on Thursday in the metropolis' Gulshan-e-Iqbal area was killed over honour, it emerged, as the deceased's brother confirmed to police in a statement Friday night.

Irshad — the victim, according to the initial police investigation — was gunned down in Block 8 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he was driving alone. Originally a resident of Parachinar, he had escaped to Karachi after a woman he was in a relationship with was killed back home over honour.

In the southern industrial hub of Pakistan, Irshad had started working a taxi driver. At the time he was targetted and killed, he did not have any passengers.

Police had moved his body to a local hospital for post-mortem, the report of which revealed that he had sustained five gunshot wounds.

Following a day-long search, police were able to track down Irshad's brother, who recorded his statement with them. He confirmed that the deceased's lover was murdered in Parachinar a few months ago, following which Irshad escaped to Karachi and started residing here.

The brother also corroborated that Irshad was shot dead on the orders of a panchayat (a group of the village's governing elders) in his hometown, and in the first information report (FIR) filed there, the woman's father and relatives have been named as the suspects.