960404

Ex-political

sec'y top Shahbaz

killed, 2 hurt

during demo

SHAHID MALIK

LAHORE: A prominent PML (N) worker and former political secretary to the Punjab Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif was killed in a firing incident, which saw at least two others seriously injured, during an anti-government demonstration here on Thursday.

The PML (N) sources claimed that Javed Ashraf died because of police action, who had resorted to firing seemingly as a result of a recent ban on political rallies along Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam. Earlier, the protestors had reportedly set a police kiosk on fire only yards away from the Lahore High Court buildings, where opposition lawyers staged a sit-in protest to demand appointment of a permanent Chief Justice for the LHC.

Dr. Qaisar Abbas, Casualty Medical Officer at the Services Hospital told Business Recorder that Javed Ashraf had been pronounced dead as soon as he was brought to the hospital emergency around 1215 hours. He had three gunshot wounds on the lower part of his chest on the right side and the front and top of his left shoulder, the CMO said.

Dr. Abbas further said that the blackening of the wounds suggested firing from a short distance but not necessarily from a point-blank range. "As a doctor, I have sometimes seen blackening of wounds where shots had been fired from a considerable distance", he said.

According to some eye witnesses, armed men fired shots at the police, who had arrested a few activists. As a result, a guard posted at a bank in the vicinity of Dayal Singh Mansion, apprehending an attempted robbery, also opened fire, which led to the casualties. A bank officer and an employee of a nearby restaurant are said to be in a serious condition in the hospital.