PRESS CLIPPINGS

KARACHI: DCET principal gunned down

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, March 25: The Principal of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Dr Mohammad Saleem Chaudhry, was gunned down on his way home on Friday afternoon. Police said three unidentified killers riding two motorcycles intercepted the principal's car in front of Parda Park near Jail Chowrangi, sprayed him with bullets and fled. After saying his Friday prayers, Mr Chaudhry left the college, which was open on Friday because it is governed by the federal government. Educational institutions governed by the Sindh government are otherwise closed on Friday. Unscathed, the DCET principal's driver, Gul Nazeer Shah, drove to the Liaquat National Hospital where Mr Chaudhry was pronounced dead on arrival, police said, adding that later his body was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination. The CHK medico-legal officer who carried out the post-mortem, Jabbar Memon, said Mr Chaudhry had received four bullets - in the chest, shoulders and armpit. He said the body was afterwards sent to his Gulshan-i-Iqbal apartment. Mr Chaudhry had joined the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology as a lecturer in 1974. He became the college principal in March 2001. He is survived by a wife and three daughters. When Dawn called Mr Chaudhry's house, a girl, who refused to identify herself, said her family did not want to talk to newsmen. Sources at the hospital said the bereaved family had lost their temper and smashed the cameras of at least two photographers. They were reported to have said that negative press reports were the cause of Mr Chaudhry's killing. The police said they registered a case (FIR 84/2005) against unknown killers on the complaint of the driver. The Jamshed Town police officer, Kamran Afzal, said Mr Chaudhry reportedly had strained relations with some employees at the college. "He had sent some of them on forced leave and placed a ban on their entry into the college. He had also taken action against a students' union. Police are looking into various aspects of the crime and investigation into the case is in progress," he said. Meanwhile, the Sindh Home Minister, Rauf Siddiqi, announced Rs500,000 reward for the arrest of assassins of Dr Saleem Chaudhry, adds APP. The home minister also set up an investigation committee led by SP Investigation Manzoor Mughal and directed him to submit a report. Expressing deep grief and sorrow over the killing of Dr Saleem Chaudhry, the minister vowed that the culprits would not be pardoned. He directed the CCPO Karachi to take stringent measures to arrest the killers. He called for chalking out an effective strategy to weed out criminal activities from educational institutions and directed that a report thereof be presented to him on every second day. Mr Siddiqi said that certain leads had been found from the scene of firing and claimed that the police would soon succeed in tracing the killers. He also issued directives to the police's intelligence agencies. He termed the murder of the DECT principal a result of an internal dispute, rejecting the incidence of any terrorist activity. Talking to newsmen at the Liaquat National Hospital after meeting with the family members of the deceased principal, he said high officials were informed within 30 minutes of the incidence and authorities had taken serious notice of the murder at the highest level. The driver, Gul Nazeer Shah, told reporters that the principal left the college at 3:20pm and at about 3.25pm, unidentified assailants intercepted their car near jail chowrangi. "After they had fired at Mohammad Saleem, I rushed to the Liaquat National Hospital for treatment, but it was late. I could not identify the faces of killers," he said. Furthermore, the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba has condemned the murder of the DCET principal and termed it an action of anti-education elements, adds PPI.

KARACHI: 2 held in principal's murder case

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, March 26: Police picked up a security guard and a naib qasid of the slain principal of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology for interrogation and are looking for some other people to find a clue to the culprits. "We have investigated into the case and we believe it (the killing) is not an outcome of either sectarianism or terrorism. We came to know that the deceased principal of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Dr Mohammad Saleem Chaudhry, was a strict administrator and many people were angry with him," Manzoor Mughal, DIG Investigation told Dawn on Saturday. He said many complaints were pending against him with the police station concerned and police were of the view that the murder might be the result of enmity. "However, we are investigating into the killing from all possible aspects and so far have not reached any conclusion," he added. Mr Mughal said that Naib Qasid Noor Mohammad and a security guard, Ishaque, were picked up and associated with the investigation process. "We are also looking for some other staff members of the slain principal for interrogation," he added. Dr Mohammad Saleem Chaudhry was gunned down on his way home on Friday afternoon. Mr Mughal said that Gul Nazeer's statement had been recorded. Nazeer told the police that he could identify the killers if they were produced before him. TRIBUTES PAID: Rich tributes were paid to slain Principal Prof Dr Mohammad Salim Choudhry of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) at a condolence meeting held at the Shaikh Zayed Islamic Centre, University of Karachi, on Saturday, add agencies. The director of the centre, Prof Dr Khalilur Rehman, presided over the meeting. A resolution, adopted on the occasion, condemned the killing of a scholarly person. In a statement on Saturday, Sindh Madressatul Islam Principal Mohammad Ali Shaikh said that the killing of an efficient educationist was a very shocking act for the countrymen in general and for the educationist community in particular. He also called for early arrest of the killers. KUTS: Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) has expressed deep concern and sorrow over the murder of the DCET Principal Mohammad Saleem Chaudhary.(End of Press Clipping).