LAHORE, Feb 13: Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja, who had been detained for four months in the year 2002 on charges of having links with Al Qaeda, was shot dead in Manawan on Monday.

After his return from the US in 1983, Dr Khwaja ran a clinic near his house in Manawan, treating patients free of cost, his cousin Khwaja Tanvir Ahmad told Dawn. Before his return to Pakistan, he had spent over 10 years in the US where he did his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and specialization in gastroenterology, he said, adding that his cousin was also American national.

Mr Ahmad said his cousin used to attend clinic shortly after morning prayers. On Monday he was on way to the clinic when two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on him and sped away. Mr Khwaja, 70, got a bullet injury and died instantaneously, he said.

Police rushed to the scene of the shooting but could not find any witness, except a beggar who was unable to speak and tried to explain the killing through gestures. Some villagers claimed to have seen the killers when they were escaping on a motorcycle. Police said the deceased received only one bullet that ripped through his head.

“It is a target killing,” Lahore investigation police Chief Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmad told Dawn. He said that some “forces intending to create unrest in the country could have masterminded the murder.” However, he said, other aspects, including terrorism, sectarianism and personal enmity, would also be looked into.

Hundreds of villagers gathered in the locality and blocked the main road in protest against the killing. They chanted slogans against the governments of Pakistan and the United States, blaming them for the murder.

On Dec 19, 2002, the physician, together with his two brothers, two sons, three nephews and an uncle, was picked up by police and officials of intelligence agencies in civvies from his house. His family alleged that the officials had searched the house and taken away every note-book, phone index, cellphone, computer, laptop, CDs and floppy disks.

Dr Javed remained in custody for over four months. His family challenged his detention in the Lahore High Court where the federal interior ministry submitted that Mr Khwaja had been harbouring terrorists like Yasir Al-Jazeeri of Al-Qaeda. The prosecution, however, could not prove its case and the court set him free.

DIG Khwaja Khalid Farooq said sketches of the killers had been drawn with the help of witnesses.