SARGODHA, Nov 30: A civil judge posted in Jhang was shot dead and his wife injured near Chak 160-NB in Shah Nikdar police station precinct by five religious-minded men, who were said to be associated with the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bahu.

However, the Sahiwal police claimed to have arrested two of the suspects on the identification of the deceased’s sister.

Reports said Civil Judge Mehr Mushtaq Ahmad Arain had come to his native village, Chak 160-NB, about 60 kilometres from here, for Eid holidays. He was proceeding towards Jhang along with his wife, sister and children when five men in a car (RIT-1294) opened fire on them. As a result, Mushtaq died while his wife sitting on front seat beside him suffered injuries on leg and arm.

The deceased’s sister informed police after which a team of Sahiwal police arrested two of the suspects — Sanaullah and Zainul Arifeen — on the Sargodha-Jhang Road.

A police official told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity that Mehr Mushtaq Ahmad, civil judge/judicial magistrate was supervising the affairs of the saint’s shrine in Jhang. Three years ago, when he was a member of the reconciliation committee to resolve the dispute of the shrine’s mutawali, he had reportedly uttered some insulting words against the saint after which both the suspects planned to kill him, disclosed the official.

He said Sanaullah and Zainul Arifeen, along with three others, hired a car from Rawalpindi and watched the movement of the judge at his native village. They shot him dead when he was returning to his place of posting.

After targeting the judge, he said, the suspects left their three accomplices with weapons of offence and were coming towards Sargodha by a car whose number had already been communicated to the police. During checking, they attempted to hoodwink the police but were arrested.

The two men have reportedly confessed to have murdered the judge and disclosed the motivation and details about their accomplices.

When contacted, Sargodha Range DIG Asif Nawaz Warriach said it was not a sectarian killing, though the element of religious extremism and the suspects’ affiliation with the saint could not be ruled out.

A medical officer at the District Headquarters Hospital stated that Mrs Mehr Mushtaq was out of danger. The autopsy of late Mehr Mushtaq was performed at the Farooka Hospital.