July 30, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19,1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 29: The guests at the French club, mostly foreigners, were panic stricken on hearing the sound of gunfire, in the tightly guarded Diplomatic Enclave on Saturday, police officials said.

On hearing the sound of fire, caused by the rifle of a private security guard, the policemen guarding the near-by buildings rushed to the scene and caught the private security guard, presuming he had been attacked, police said.

The security guard identified by the police as Mohammad Riaz was cleaning his rifle when it went off, a police officer said.

When SP Ehsan Sadiq of VIP and Diplomatic Protection Department was contacted, he confirmed the incident which caused concern among the foreigners present at the club.

The SP said the matter was taken up with the people concerned of the private security agency and the guard responsible had been removed from the diplomatic area.

“There was nothing to worry as the foreigners were satisfied. Nobody was hurt due to the fire. It was an accidental fire.”

A similar incident took place a few days ago when a bullet was fired from the gun of a Frontier Constabulary guard posted at Chinese Embassy.