Saba Dashtiari, a senior professor of the Balochistan University, was gunned down on Wednesday evening by unknown gunmen. Saba came out of the varsity for a routine walk along with a university student when two attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire on him at a close range and fled the scene. As a result, he succumbed to his multiple injuries while being shifted to the Civil Hospital. Saqim Baloch, the only witness, told journalists at the hospital that the assailants appeared to be intelligence personnel. One of them came from behind and opened fire on Saba who fell on the ground but the killer fired two more shots which proved fatal.
Soon after hearing about the killing, a large number of Baloch students gathered at the hospital. It is pertinent to mention that Dashtiari was very active in the protests for an early recovery of Baloch missing persons. He was a staunch critic of the state agencies’ alleged policy of eliminating and dumping the bodies of missing persons. Dashtiari, 57, was serving the varsity as professor at the Department of Islamic Studies for the last 25 years.
