SINDH: Activists of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) took to the streets following the murder of the party’s leader Maqsood Qureshi and his aide, whose charred bodies were found from a gutted car in Naushero Feroze district Friday morning.
The police found the car and later identified the victims as Maqsood Qureshi, who was JSQM’s spokesperson and the brother of the party’s leader Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, who died in mysterious circumstances and Latif Sangat Salman Wadhiyo, the central president of the party.
According to officials, Maqsood was in Mehar taluka of Dadu district Thursday night and after meeting different nationalist leaders, he left for Karachi. There were three persons in the car, Maqsood, Salman and one more person whose name could not be ascertained. However, only two bodies were found from the car and the third passenger is missing, officials said.
Bhiria DSP Shahnawaz Memon confirmed to The Express Tribune that only two bodies were found in the car around 6am. The body of Maqsood Qureshi was in the front seat, while Salman Wadhiyo was in the back seat.
So far it is believed that the victims were first shot and then their car was set on fire. However, the police said it was premature to draw any conclusion.
According to reports, Maqsood Qureshi was going to Karachi to mobilise party workers in connection to their ‘Freedom March’ rally on March 23 in the province.
JSQM Vice chairman Dr Niaz Kalani said the killing of Qureshi was a plot to fail their ‘Freedom March’.
Maqsood was a brother of late JSQM chief Bashir Qureshi who died in Sakrand, Nawabshah in 2012.
Soon after the news spread, hundreds of JSQM activists staged a sit-in with the bodies on the National Highway near Bhiria bypass. JSQM women’s wing president Zarina Noorani condemned the ‘brutal murder’ and alleged that it was part of a conspiracy to dampen the spirits of the youth who are getting ready to participate in the Freedom March in Karachi on March 23.
She claimed that the two leaders were kidnapped on their way to Karachi from Mehar and killed after which their car was set ablaze.
Talking to the media, JSQM Chairman Sanan Qureshi blamed the establishment and the agencies for the murder of his uncle and the other party leader. “Despite the brutal murders, we will hold a mammoth rally on March 23 at Tibet Centre, Karachi.
The sit-in ended Friday night and the party leadership decided to take the bodies to Karachi.
Business activities came to a halt in Hyderabad, Larkana, Ratodero, Qambar Shahdatkot and other small districts of the province, following killing of the JSQM leader.
Protests and violence erupted in different parts of Sindh. In Ratodero, hundreds of JSQM workers took to the streets where they resorted to aerial firing. They also torched a vehicle of the Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana, a police mobile as well as a trailer. The protestors also attacked a NADRA office, a bank and caused damage to its ATM.
A shutter-down strike was also observed in Larkana, where JSQM activists burnt tyres and staged protests. In Khairpur, a mob attacked some shops, but the police and paramilitary Rangers brought the situation under control.
Baluch Sarmachar 
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