LAHORE, Feb 6: A blasphemy accused was shot dead on Turner Road on Thursday afternoon.

Quoting Raza Ahmad, the son of Mushtaq Zafar, 55, police said he (Mushtaq) was on his way home by a rickshaw from the high court after confirmation of his bail in a blasphemy case when two unidentified men shot him in the chest.

The attackers fled from the scene and the injured man was rushed to the Mayo Hospital where he died soon after arrival.

Police said initially Mushtaq could not be identified until his family members contacted them at night.

Mushtaq, a resident of Karol Ghati, Baghbanpura, and his friends Imran and Shafiq were accused of creating a new religion and blasphemy.

His neighbours Ghulam Rabbani and Salim Ahmad allegedly set his house to fire besides opening indiscriminate fire on November 19, 2001. Mushtaq survived but one of his friends, Imran, was killed in the attack.

Rabbani and Salim were arrested and a murder case was registered against them. They are in jail these days.

Raza denied the blasphemy charges and claimed that his father used to restrain the accused from selling narcotics in the area.

“They first killed Imran and now my father just for their drug business.”

He said the family members of the accused were pressing his father to withdraw the case.

He said the accused’s family members and friends had been writing letters to religious leaders, demanding death for his father and alleging him of creating a new religion just to strengthen the blasphemy charges.

The body was sent to the city mortuary for autopsy. No case has so far been registered.