LAHORE: A person belonging to the Sikh community was killed by unknown assailants in a drive-by shooting in Lahore’s Nawab Town neighbourhood on Saturday, police said.

The man, identified as Paramjit Singh Panjwar, 50, was shot by gunmen riding a motorcycle. When the attack happened, he was on a morning walk at around 6:30am, accompanied by his bodyguard near his residence in the Sunflower Housing Society, police said.

Mr Panjwar received a fatal gunshot to the head, a police official said. The bodyguard was also wounded in the attack and shifted to a local hospital, where his condition was said to be critical. The assailants fled the scene after the attack.

An official said police rushed to the site and cordoned off the area to collect evidence. The police also issued a high alert to intensify patrolling and snap-checking to round up the suspects.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The police official said it would be premature to say anything about the motive behind Mr Panjwar’s killing and teams were working on all possible leads.

He refused to comment on reports that one of the shooters was also injured in the crossfire.

Mr Panjwar’s body was shifted to the city morgue for autopsy and police experts were trying to get access to CCTV footage of the crime scene to get more details about the suspects.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2023