LAHORE: A nine-year-old boy was shot dead and another child injured when two armed men resorted to aerial firing at a corner meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at Kot Lakhpat on Tuesday.

Mazhar Jan, 9, breathed his last in hospital while the condition of Fahad was said to be stable as he suffered bullet wound in his leg, a doctor told media persons at the Lahore General Hospital.

There were conflicting reports about the incident when some PML-N men tried to mislead police by alleging that the party’s corner meeting came under fire by the armed men of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. However, during preliminary inquiry it transpired that it was the result of aerial firing by the two gunmen of PML-N leader Haji Muhammad Aslam Bhatti.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen fired in the air before the arrival of Saad Rafique who was scheduled to attend the corner meeting of the party at Babar Chowk. They said Saad Rafique was contesting the election for PP-168. Lahore Operations SSP Asad Sarfraz told Dawn that the death of a boy and injury to another was the result of aerial firing by the two gunmen of a PML-N leader at the corner meeting.

“We dispatched police to respond to the emergency situation and they arrested both the gunmen,” he said, adding that a criminal case had been lodged against them.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2018