Four Hindu doctors have been gunned down in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, sparking fears and panic among the minority community. The doctors were gunned down on Monday at their clinic in Chak town close to Shikarpur.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, chief patron of Pakistan Hindu Council, confirmed that Dr Ashok, Dr Naresh, Dr Ajeet and Dr Satia Paul were killed by armed assailants while working in their clinic.

He said the dispute had erupted between the Hindu community and the local Baban Khan Bhayo tribe after Hindu boys brought a Muslim dancing girl to the area.

“This is not the first time such an incident has taken place where members of our community have been targeted. What is of concern is that the law enforcement agencies tend to support the criminals involved in such acts,” Dr Kumar said.

“There is a strong population of around 50,000 Hindus in Chak so for such an incident to happen is bad and the government must take notice of it and provide protection to the minorities,” Kumar demanded.

Kumar said minorities were well protected and secure military strongman Pervez Musharraf was the president but now they had become prey to open terrorism and crime.

Following the incident, the Station House Officer of Chak police station was suspended while the head constable was arrested on the directives of Shikarpur SP Junaid Shaikh.

Ten persons were also arrested in different raids on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari who took serious notice of the incident and ordered immediate arrests of the killers.

(With inputs from agencies)