RAWALPINDI: A shopkeeper was shot dead over a petty issue in Ratta Amral here on Tuesday evening.

Police said Imran Gul, 35, was sitting in his public call office (PCO) when a man came there and started arguing with him over delay in loading a balance in his mobile phone.

Quoting eyewitnesses, the police said: “A man walked into the PCO and started shouting at the owner for the delay in loading balance in his cellphone. Moments later, he pulled out a pistol and shot Imran and escaped.” The injured was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital where he died.

As the doctors pronounced the injured dead, his relatives started chanting slogans against the police for failing to provide protection to citizens and arresting the culprit.

Nayyar Mehfooz, the station house officer of Ratta, told Dawn that they had started an investigation into the murder case.

In reply to a question, he denied that it was a robbery attempt in which the man was killed. “Had it been a robbery case, the culprit would have demanded cash or taken away mobile phones.”

Published in Dawn January 21st , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play