LAHORE, March 19: Two motorcyclists shot dead three people in a suspected terrorist act on Mouj Darya Road near Old Anarkali on Tuesday.

Two of the victims fell to target killing, and the third one was shot dead while trying to overpower the attackers not far from the scene of shooting.

However, District Police Officer Javed Noor said it was too early to term the killing a terrorist act, claiming: “Some other motives have also surfaced that need to be checked.”

The deceased were identified as Prof Attaur Rehman Saqib, principal of the Fehm-i-Quran Institute and a member of the Pakistan Islamic Ideological Council, his driver Sheraz Khan, and Hassan Raza, administrator of Imambargah Khaima-i-Saadaat.

Prof Saqib, 42, was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the auditorium of the Accountant-General’s office. He had been delivering lectures there for the last four years.

Witnesses told Dawn that one of the attackers kept waiting at the main entrance of the AG office and opened fire on the professor as soon as he came out of his car at around 7:30am. Later, he shot at the professor’s driver inside the car. “The other gunman wearing a helmet waited on the motorcycle and sped off when his accomplice joined him after finishing the task,” they said.

About half a furlong away, the motorcycle (LXV-7612) hit a schoolgirl, Tahira, in front of Imambargah Khaima-i-Saadaat. Tahira’s father, Hassan Raza, who had just seen off his daughter, ran after her when he saw the accident.

Witnesses said that Hassan Raza, 65, had a brawl with the killers and managed to get hold of one of them. The other armed man first attempted to free his accomplice and then opened fire at Hassan Raza, leaving him wounded.

The gunmen then left their motorcycle. Their weapon, a .30 bore pistol, fell as they ran off. Soon, they snatched another motorcycle but left it too after they failed to operate it. Finally, they snatched a motorcycle-rickshaw and escaped.

The three injured were taken to the Mayo Hospital where Prof Atta was received dead while the others died some minutes later.

DPO Javed Noor claimed that there had been some differences among the administrators of Fehm-i-Quran Institute that was being investigated. “We are also keeping other options, including terrorism, open to investigate,” he said.

The Investigation SSP told reporters: “First two seem to be target killings and the third one accidental.”

Hassan Raza’ family refused to accept that his killing was accidental. His nephew, Abu Hassan, said the gunmen had deliberately hit Tahira to force her father out of the Imambargah. “They did so because it was difficult to execute the task inside the Imambargah,” he claimed.

Quoting the girl, her brother Naseer said the gunmen were clad in shalwar kameez and their ages ranged between 25 and 30. “One of them sported beard.”

Sanaur Rehman, a brother of Prof Atta, admitted that there were some differences over the academic issues of the institute. “Prof Habib and Advocate M.D. Farooq were opposing my brother over the issue,” he said, but ruled out any connection between the dispute and the killings. “It simply is terrorism.”

He said one of his brothers-in-law had received a phone call in which the unknown caller had owned the killings.

Sanaur Rehman said his brother had studied Islam and Quran from a Saudi university and had been working with the late Allama Ehsan Ilahi Zaheer of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith. He had been teaching Quran and Islamic studies for the last six years, he added.

Prof Atta, who hailed from Samundri in Faisalabad, had shifted to Gulshan Ravi, Lahore, with his family some 10 years ago and hired the driver just five days ago.

Prof Atta is survived by his wife and three children. The driver, a resident of Samanabad, has left behind his wife and two children to mourn his death. Hassan Raza is survived by his wife and six children.

The bodies were sent to the city mortuary for autopsy. Doctors said Prof Atta had sustained one bullet in his head, his driver had two bullets and Hassan Raza had received one bullet in his chest. Hassan Raza had also resistance marks on his body, they said.

The bodies were handed over to the bereaved families. Prof Atta’s colleagues said his funeral prayers would be held at Nasser Bagh on the Mall but police said they would not allow it.

Initial inquiry revealed that the motorcycle had a fake number-plate. Its original No is LXR-403, an investigator said, adding it was yet to be determined whether the motorcycle had been stolen.

He claimed that police teams had been sent to round up some suspects who had appeared as rivals of the professor in the institute.

POLICE TEAMS: The police constituted three investigation teams, each headed by a DSP, to probe different aspects of the killing, adds APP.