28 June 2004	Monday	09 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, June 27: Police baton-charged and arrested activists of the PML-N who had gathered outside the Masjid Shuhada on The Mall to offer funeral prayers for Pir Binyameen Rizvi.

The Pir was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists on Saturday afternoon near Punjab University campus when he was on his way to a local hotel from party office in Garden Town here.

The police authorities, after talks, released around 100 activists who later staged a sit-in on The Mall.

MMA deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch and Farid Piracha, PPP provincial chief Qasim Zia and Naveed Chaudhry attended the funeral prayers along with PML-N's Khwaja Saad Rafique, Pervaiz Malik, Rana Sanaullah, Kamran Michael and party MPAs from Lahore.

Mr Baloch demanded the constitution of a tribunal comprising high court judges to investigate the incident.

Mr Rafique said his party would move court against police refusal to register the FIR as wanted by Tariq Shah, the brother of deceased Rizvi.

CASE REVIEWED: Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja reviewed on Sunday the pace of progress in the investigation of the murder of PML-N leader Pir Binyamin Rizvi.

Senior police officials informed him about the investigation being conducted by different agencies, says a handout.

The minister said the chief minister wanted early arrest of the killers, and no laxity would be tolerated in this regard. The murder seemed to be an outcome of some personal enmity, he claimed.

He said the government did not believe in violence in politics. Sympathizing with the bereaved family, he appealed to them to allow police and administration to proceed in a purely professional manner so that the culprits could be exposed.

He also urged them not to play in the hands of certain elements so that the real motive behind the murder could be ascertained.