Sheikh, a stringer for Sindh TV and local bureau chief for the national Urdu-language daily Khabrein, was killed by unidentified gunmen as he left his home by motorbike in the town of Hub, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Karachi, according to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
Mazhar Abbas, then the secretary-general of the journalists union, told CPJ he had spoken by telephone with Sheikh's brother, Ishaq, who was riding on the same motorbike at the time of the attack and had been hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Ishaq said three men on motorbikes carried out the shooting, then checked to make sure the journalist was dead before fleeing, according to Abbas. The brother said he was unaware of any dispute that might have led to the murder, Abbas said.