Journalists express shock over Arshad Sharif's killing, call for probe

As news of senior journalist Arshad Sharif’s demise broke out on Monday morning, Pakistan’s journalism community expressed disbelief and called for a thorough probe into his killing.

The 49-year-old journalist was shot dead in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, confirmed his wife Javeria Siffiqui on Twitter.

However, while reporting on the news, Kenyan media had termed the shooting incident a “mistaken identity” case by the police.

Journalists demand probe

Many senior members of the media fraternity came forward to honour the late journalist and pray for his departed soul but also raised questions over the details of his death.

Read IHC orders secys interior, foreign to 'immediately' meet slain journalist Arshad Sharif's family

Senior journalist Kamran Khan turned to Twitter to mourn the loss and express his distrust in the details emerging regarding the incident.

"Few news accounts speak of Arshad killed in traffic accident? Kenyan officials and GOP must act fast to get us facts on this devastating news about one of Pakistan's most prominent journalists," he wrote.

Veteran journalist Shaheen Sehbai also raised doubts about the reports terming the incident an 'accident'.

"Police say he was shot in the head. Stop pressing [the] media to report it as an accident. Have some shame," he wrote on Twitter.

Sharif's colleague Kashif Abbasi was also in a state of disbelief as he took to the micro-blogging site to express his shock over the incident.

"My brother, my friend my colleague Arshad Shareef was shot dead in Kenya. I still can’t believe it. It’s beyond heartbreaking. This is just wrong.. this is painful.. I love u brother [sic]," he wrote.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir also highlighted a number of alleged cracks in the story being presented about Sharif's death, saying: "Kenyan police version raised some pertinent questions: Why they never fired on the tyre of the vehicle? Why they never targeted the driver? Why they shot Arshad Sharif directly in the head?"

Other senior members of the fraternity like Shahzab Khanzada, Arif Hameed Bhatti, Murtaza Solangi and Zarrar Khuhrro also mourned the untimely demise of the journalist.

Earlier today, Sharif's wife Javeria Siddiqui confirmed that he died in Kenya's Nairobi city after reportedly being shot.

Taking to her official Twitter handle, Siddiqui said "I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist Arshad today, as per police he was shot in Kenya."

According to Kenyan media reports, Sharif was shot in the head and killed by police after he and his driver allegedly breached a roadblock that had been set up to check on motor vehicles using the route.

They were driving from Magadi town to Nairobi when they were flagged down at a roadblock being manned by a group of police officers, police reportedly said.

A Kenyan senior police officer was quoted in the media saying, “we had an incident of shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity involving a journalist. We will release more information later”.