Senior army official among two shot dead in Sargodha attack

Six others suffered bullet wounds as a result of the attack. They were rushed to the DHQ for treatment.

FAISALABAD: Three people were killed, including a senior army official, and six others were injured when armed men stormed Darbar Astana Fazal in Sargodha Cantt on Saturday evening and opened fire.

Sargodha Cantt police Station House Officer (SHO) Farooq Hasanat told The Express Tribune that armed men had stormed Darbar Astana Fazal where a Mehfil-e-Sama was taking place after Isha prayers, and fired at the Mutawalli (caretaker) of the Darbar. The assailants escaped on motorcycles after the attack.

Hasnat said that the attack left Mutawalli Fazal Qadri, his brother Brigadier Fazal Rabbani and a participant of the Mehfil-e-Sama Dr Ayub dead, while the six others suffered multiple bullet injuries.

The injured were rushed to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Sargodha where doctors were providing treatment to the wounded. The dead have been shifted to the mortuary pending a post-mortem.

The SHO added that the condition of two of the injured men was said to be serious.

Muhammad Ramzan, who witnessed the incident, said that the attack caused panic and caused participants of the event to run helter-skelter.

Upon learning of the incident, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sargodha Ahmad Ishaq Jahangir, District Police Officer (DPO) Raja Muhammad Basharat and a heavy contingent of police rushed to the site.

The RPO said that teams had been formed to trace the culprits and to ascertain the facts behind the attack.

SHO Cantt Sargodha police station said that the police had yet to receive a formal complaint about the incident, hence, a case of the incident had yet to be registered.