Accused gunned down in court

Gunshots kill the accused on the spot and sent litigants rushing to take cover

LAHORE: Once again the security at district courts has come into question after an assailant gunned down a handcuffed accused in court premises. Panic spread among the lawyers and litigants as the armed assailant opened fire. Reportedly, Chung police produced accused Nadeem Lodhi, who was arrested under attempted murder charges, before a magisterial court when an armed man opened fire. The gunshots killed the accused on the spot and sent litigants rushing to take cover. The assailant, identified as Ali Haider, was arrested on the spot by police officials. Senior officials including DIG Operations Muhammad Ashfaq, SSP Ismail Kharak and SP Syed Ghazanfar reached the spot. In a letter to the Lahore High Court registrar, senior Civil Judge Dildar Shah stated that ‘the incident is the result of a security lapse on the part of law enforcement agencies”.  

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2019.