Ex-LHC justice gunned down near Gujjar Khan

Police suggest the victim was killed for past enmities, family feuds

RAWALPINDI: A former judge of the Lahore High Court, Justice Chaudhry Mehmood Akhtar was target killed by unidentified armed assailants just a few metres from Jatli Police Station in Gujjar Khan on Tuesday.

His niece was also injured while his wife, who was sitting in the car, remained unhurt.

According to the Jatli police, Justice Akhtar was returning to Islamabad along with his wife and niece when two men, who were riding on a motorbike, intercepted them and fired on them near the entrance of the police station.

The former judge was shot multiple times died on the spot. Seeing assailants attack the former judge, his niece bravely jumped out of the car and started pelting the assailants with stones to drive them away.

The assailants fled but as they did so, they opened fire again. One of the bullets fired by the fleeing assailants struck the shoulder of the judge’s niece, leaving her injured.

Jatli police station SHO Tanvir Ashraf told Daily Express that the incident appears to be one of target killing.

He added that the judge had past enmity which could provide the motive for the attack. He further said that his family has yet to record any statement or accuse anyone.

Murder or suicide: Boy, girl found shot dead

The body of the former judge was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Rawalpindi for a post-mortem examination.

Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan has advised Mandara and Jatli SHOs to track the suspects and arrest them while he has formed two teams under the Saddar SP to catch the suspects.

Meanwhile, the lawyer’s community in Rawalpindi has announced to strike against the brutal murder of the former judge. The lawyers said that they will not attend proceedings in district benches of Rawalpindi and or the Lahore High Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2018.