LAHORE: A Shia leader and a student were allegedly shot at and injured by unidentified armed men near the Kalma Chowk on Saturday.

Syed Namwar Abbas, 35, who used to lead Majalis and also worked as a commerce teacher at a private institution in Garden Town, came under attack a few days after unidentified men made a sign of ‘cross’ on his car as a threat to his life.

A relative of the victim, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that Abbas’s car was parked at the Main Market, Gulberg, when the mark of the ‘cross’ was made on it.

Quoting eyewitnesses to the attack, he said that on Saturday evening, two armed men, on motorcycle, opened fire on Prof Abbas just as he left his college by his car.

A student, Muhammad Umar, also suffered a bullet injury to his arm during the attack. Both were rushed to the Lahore General Hospital where the condition of Abbas was stated to be serious.

The relative further said the motorcyclists were wearing helmets to conceal their identity when they intercepted Syed Abbas and disappeared before the arrival of police who reached the crime scene too late.

A doctor said the CT scan showed that the Shia leader was attacked from a very close range.

To a question, the relative of the injured Shia leader said Prof Abbas had initially misunderstood the ‘cross’ mark and took it a joke instead of a serious threat.

“Apparently it appears to be a sectarian attack on a Shia leader”, he said.

Model Town Division SP Operations Tariq Aziz told Dawn Namwar Abbas suffered a minor bullet injury to his head and his condition was stable.

To a question, he said that it would be premature to declare it a target attack as police were looking into all the relevant aspects to establish the exact nature of the crime. About the cross made on the car of Abbas, he said police were unaware of it.