Deadly attack: Guard shot dead outside school in Dera Ghazi Khan

Police rule out terrorism, say personal enmity is the likely reason.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

A guard was shot dead on Monday by two unidentified gunmen outside a school in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Saroorwali Government Boys High School Headmaster Muhammad Bilal told The Express Tribune that he had heard gunshots near the school gate at around 12.15pm.

“I called the emergency response team before heading outside to see what had happened,” he said.

He said when he went to the gate, he saw that Ghulam Abbas, the guard on duty, had been shot in the head.

“Fearing a terrorist attack, I summoned another guard and asked him to fire warning shots in the air,” he said. He said the guard fired two shots at his request. He said a large number of parents and neighbours began gathering at the scene at hearing the commotion.

He said during this time, teams from the Counter-Terrorism Department, the bomb disposal squad and the Elite Force reached the school.

He said they searched the building and some neighboring buildings.

DPO Ghulam Mubashir told newsmen that witnesses had told police that two men riding a motorbike had shot Abbas.

He ruled out terrorism, saying it was likely that the man had been killed over a personal enmity. “The men who killed him did not try to enter the school building. Instead, they fled,” he said. He said police teams had searched the school for explosives before school administration was allowed to resume routine.

The DPO said Abbas was taken to a basic health unit where he was declared dead on arrival. He said doctors had told him that the man had been shot at close range.



He said CCTV footage from the school’s entrance had been obtained. “A team has been formed to investigate the incident,” the DPO said. “They will compile a report which will be shared with the public.” Abbas’s family staged a protest demonstration on hearing the news of the killing. They placed his body on Multan Road and blocked it for traffic. They urged police to arrest the suspects immediately.

The funeral prayers were offered at his native village. Abbas ran a grocery store in the evening and was a father of eight.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2015.