Saturday, April 02, 2005
Shia cleric shot dead in Lahore
* Najafi was vice principal of Jamia al-Muntazir * Daughter and two others injured
By Shahnawaz Khan and Ayan Ali
LAHORE: Gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead a Shia cleric and injured three people including his daughter in a suspected sectarian attack in the precincts of the Liaqatabad police station in Model Town on Friday.
Ghulam Hussain Najafi, vice-principal of the Jamia al-Muntazir, was being driven by his daughter Mariam to a mosque for Friday prayers when two attackers opened fire at the car. Najafi was killed instantly while his daughter and a student, who were also in the car, were wounded. A passer-by was also injured.
The two suspected terrorists, who were chasing Najafi on a motorbike, opened fire after a street vendor blocked the passage by placing his cart in front of the Shia cleric’s vehicle. The assailants and the vendor fled after the attack, arousing suspicion that the vendor was also involved. Najafi’s daughter and female student Uzma were reported to be in critical condition and were treated in hospital, while passer-by Islamuddin sustained minor wounds.
“It appears to be a sectarian killing and investigators have found some clues to the assailants,” Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmed told Daily Times. The SSP said special teams had been formed to arrest the attackers who he hoped would be caught within 48 hours. Angry youths and teachers from the Shia school took to the streets after the murder, witnesses said. They chanted slogans against sectarian violence and demanded the arrest of the attackers.
Najafi, who was born in Sargodha in 1939, was the author of several books and was instrumental in countering anti-Shia propaganda, his colleagues said. They that he had been getting death threats recently.
Najafi’s funeral prayers will be said at 2:00pm at Jamia Muntazar today. It is suspected that Najafi’s murder might be linked to a recent slaying of a top Sunni police officer in Gilgit.
Gunmen last month ambushed former police chief of Gilgit, Sakhiullah Tareen, killing him and his four guards and seriously wounding his son and daughter-in-law.
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