KOHAT, June 3: In a painful reminder to the harsh reality that restoring peace in the violence-plagued Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal region could be a distant dream for the new government, a newly-elected MPA from Hangu was assassinated in Mohallah Sangerh along with his secretary on Monday.

Officials said that gunmen opened fire as soon as Fareed Khan, who was elected as an independent candidate from KP-42, Hangu, but joined the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf afterwards, disembarked from his vehicle.

A brother of the MPA suffered bullet wounds and was fighting for his life in hospital. A guard and a child who was passing by were also injured.

The cold-blooded murder triggered riots in town as enraged protesters set on fire a couple of shops and the office of a religio-political party, forcing the local administration to place the district under a curfew for an indefinite period.

Hangu Deputy Commissioner Tahir Zafar Abbasi handed over the control of the district to police and army. Four suspects were picked up during a search operation carried out after the incident.

The entire area was cordoned off after the attack and banned for public. Police collected bullet shells from the place and interviewed eyewitnesses.

Police described it a case of target killing. Hangu has seen a wave of killings over the past couple of years.

Mr Fareed Khan was against a group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan which had been warning him. The MPA, who belonged to a respectable family, has been reportedly killed by a rival group of the TTP.

The Hangu City police registered a case against unknown killers under Sections 302 and 324 and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

CONDEMNATION: President Asif Ali Zardari condemned Mr Fareed Khan’s murder and directed the authorities concerned to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the assailants to justice.