PESHAWAR, June 5: Senior government official Syed Mehdi Hussain was shot dead here on Tuesday morning. Police suspected it to be a sectarian attack.

Mr Hussain, a director in the NWFP information department, had no enmity with anyone, according to his brother Sabtain Hussain Shah, who reported the murder to the Hashtnagri police station.

Mr Hussain was 56 years old. He leaves behind a widow, three sons and a daughter

“We are looking at different aspects of the case, including the possibility that this was a sectarian attack, in view of recent attacks on people of a particular sect,” a senior police officer said.

The assailants opened fire on Mr Hussain when he was going to his car parked outside his home in Jhanda Bazaar. Hit by four bullets, he died at the Lady Reading Hospital.

NWFP Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai has strongly condemned the murder, terming it a cruel and cowardly act. He offered condolences to the bereaved family.