A 62-year-old man belonging to the Ahmadi community was reportedly shot dead by unknown assailants in Kotla Miran area of Rahim Yar Khan on Wednesday night, police said.

Chaudhary Basharat Ahmed, the owner of a gas station, was on his way to his house in Khanpur's Green Town neighbourhood on his motorbike when he was shot dead in the Kotla Miran area. His death, however, was initially treated as the result of a road accident.

Basharat served as the central organiser of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya's Khanpur chapter eight years ago, Rana Munir, said an official at Khanpur police's special branch.

Rescue 1122 officials said they first received reports of an accident in the Kotla Miran area at around 8:30pm. The reports said a man was lying injured on the roadside and was bleeding from his nose and mouth.

When Basharat's relatives reached the site of the accident, the victim was taken to Khanpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ), where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Basharat's son-in-law, Attaul Qudoos, said in the First Information Report (FIR) that when the slain man's body was brought home after completing medicolegal formalities, the family received word that the sound of gunfire had reportedly been heard at the site of the accident.

In a state of uncertainty, a relative named Dr Zafar Iqbal inspected Basharat's body and noticed a small hole above his right ear that was seeping blood and another bleeding wound in the slain main's left ear. After this revelation, the family brought the victim's body back to the hospital.

Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Mohammad Tariq of the Khanpur Saddar police station said a murder case had been registered on the complaint of Basharat's son-in-law Attaul Qudoos. FIR number 203/17 was registered under Section 302 (qatl-i-amd or intentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The complainant in the FIR said his father-in-law had been murdered by unknown assailants and legal action should be pursued against the perpetrators.

The investigation of the case was subsequently handed over to sub-inspector (SI) Amjad Hussain of the Khanpur homicide circle.

Pakistan's Ahmadi community

Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims by the Pakistani government in 1974.

They have been arrested in Pakistan for reading the Holy Quran, holding religious celebrations and having Quranic verses on rings or wedding cards. Four years ago, 86 Ahmadis were killed in two simultaneous attacks in Lahore.

Eleven members of the community were murdered for their faith in 2014 and authorities failed to apprehend any of the killers, highlighting growing intolerance toward the community.