LAHORE: The house of former Punjab governor Latif Khosa allegedly came under a gun attack when unidentified armed men opened fires at its main gate in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) late on Thursday.

However, the former governor remained safe in the incident, while his driver sustained bullet injuries and was shifted to hospital.

“Bullets were fired at my house, injuring my driver. Unknown men fled after the firing,” the senior lawyer told Dawn.com.

“I was listening to a client’s case at my home. I heard shots [and] my driver came inside and said he has been hit by a bullet,” he said.

“When I went outside, I saw [bullet] holes in the gate. A bullet also hit my car. The bullets were fired with a Kalashnikov,” he said.

Mr Khosa said till 7pm on Thursday, he was attending a lawyer’s convention, organised by the Supreme Court Bar and Lahore High Court Bar associations, where he talked about the “Constitution’s supremacy and the judicial system”.

“I said [during the convention] that unconstitutional government has been imposed in two provinces. The way chants are raised outside the Supreme Court, it is contempt [of court],” the veteran lawyer said.

“There was huge applause there, but here [those remarks] sparked [the firing].”

Mr Khosa asserted: “The lawyers’ movement cannot be weakened by such tactics. We are standing with the chief justice [of Pakistan].”

Saying that “power is being grossly abused”, the former governor added he had never seen such a period in the country’s history.

He also recalled an incident in January this year when his son suffered injuries after two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at him outside the Punjab University gate.

“The suspects have not been caught [even] in a city like Lahore. This is Defence [area] — Lahore’s red zone,” Khosa said.

Following the incident,Cantonment Superintendent of Police (SP) Owais Shafique, a DHA security team and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan reached Mr Khosa’s house.

Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar took notice of the incident and sought a report from Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana.

The IG ordered a “complete investigation” into the matter and immediate arrest of the culprits with the help of CCTV footage.

Lahore DIG Operations Imran Kishwar told this reporter that the police were awaiting lodging of a complaint of the firing incident by the former governor to register a case.

He said police teams were also working on the matter to trace the unidentified armed men who attacked Mr Khosa’s house.

The Defence police lodged an FIR against the unidentified men involved in firing at the residence of Mr Khosa.

An official said when requested to lodge a complaint, Mr Khosa sought time, after which the police became complainant in the case.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of ASI Niaz of the Defence A Police Station.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023