Agha Ziauddin’s killer shot dead

GILGIT: A man who was accused of killing noted Shia cleric Agha Ziauddin has been killed in a police encounter.

Shakirullah Jan was among the four terrorists killed by the Counterterrorism Department (CTD) in an alleged encounter near Sheikhupura on Wednesday, a CTD spokesperson confirmed.

Shakirullah Jan and Arifuddin escaped from Gilgit jail three years back after reportedly drugging the security personnel on duty.



Jan, who was from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, had been under trial in an Anti-Terrorism Court in Gilgit for the January 2005 murder of Ziauddin. The assassination of the eminent cleric had led to the killing of nearly 20 people in the ensuing riots over the next few days.

Besides Jan, among the dead was Asif Chotu, the leader of LeJ, who was nominated in over 100 murder cases and had a bounty of Rs3 million on his head.

Another killed in encounter was identified as Noorul Amin, while one dead terrorist has not been identified yet.

Shia cleric injured, wife killed in gun attack

According to the CTD, the terrorists had been preparing to launch an attack on staff and offices of a sensitive agency in Lahore. For this purpose they were coming on four motorcycles from Farooqabad towards Sheikhupura.

A Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesman confirmed the death of the terrorist.

“He was killed in Sheikhupura in an encounter,” Faraq told The Express Tribune on Thursday.

“Efforts are on to nab the other fugitive, who was Jan’s accomplice.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2017.