Arshad Sharif, a slain journalist who was shot dead in Kenya on Sunday of last week under unclear circumstances, had his funeral prayers said on Thursday at the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.
See More: Paid Price For Speaking The Truth! Arshad Sharif Shot Dead In Kenya
Journalist Arshad Sharif’s Funeral Prayers Update:
The funeral prayers were held in the nation’s capital, and many journalists, politicians, and members of civil society, including Azam Swati, Shibli Faraz, Murad Saeed, Faisal Karim Kundi, Kashif Abbasi, Waseem Badami, and Sami Ibrahim, were there.
SOURCE: DAWN
Also held in Lahore were funeral prayers for the deceased.
Security around the Shah Faisal Mosque was stepped up ahead of the funeral, according to a security order issued by Islamabad police, with the deployment of 3,792 security officers. There are six inspectors and 1,010 police officers among them.
According to the order, three police superintendents and five assistant or deputy superintendents of police will be in charge of overseeing the security measures.
The directive stated that 2,500 Frontier Corps members and 204 members of the Sindh police had been assigned to help the Islamabad police.
Following the ceremony, the journalist will be laid to rest at plot number 15 of the H-11 cemetery, where a substantial police presence has already been established. The graveyard has also been accessed by journalists and people from the civil community.
Sharif was allegedly shot dead in Kenya on Sunday night by the local police; a police statement afterwards expressed “regrets on the sad event” and stated that an inquiry was in progress.
Initial reports from the Kenyan media said that Sharif was killed by police in a “mistaken identity” incident.
However, following reports from the Kenyan media reconstructed the circumstances of the murder and claimed that a person who was in Sharif’s car at the time of his death was alleged to have fired at paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers.
A report by Nation Media Group stated that “they were stopped by GSU officers who, according to the police, were responding to allegations that a stolen vehicle had been observed in the area.”
In the investigation, it was observed that police gave conflicting accounts, initially claiming Sharif and his brother disobeyed instructions at a roadblock but subsequently asserting that Sharif’s brother “shot at” one officer and hurt him. Police were cited as claiming that the incident spurred them to retaliate by shooting.
Yesterday, the body of Sharif arrived in Pakistan (Wednesday). The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad later performed a post-mortem.
Look Into The Murder:
A judicial panel will be established to look into the journalist’s slaying, the prime minister Shehbaz Sharif declared on Tuesday.
Additionally, the government has formed a team to investigate the slaying. Initially, a three-person committee made up of the director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Athar Wahid, the deputy director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Omar Shahid Hamid, and Lt. Col. Saad Ahmed of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was established. Later, the ISI official was removed from the team, which was reduced from three to two members.
According to a notification from the Foreign Office, the team will depart for Kenya right away, and the High Commission of Pakistan in Nairobi will arrange for the committee members’ visit.
A “high level probe” into the “accidental” killing has also been ordered by the military from the government.
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