RAWALPINDI: A former member of Punjab Assembly and an independent candidate in the Feb 8 elections Chaudhry Mohammad Adnan was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle riders outside the Police Lines Headquarters here on Monday.

According to initial police reports, Chaudhry Adnan was on his way to his Jhanda Chichi Road residence from Kutchery Chowk when his car was targeted by motorcycle riders on the busiest Old Airport Road, just opposite to the monument of police martyrs and not far from the office of Special Branch and three police stations. The attackers managed to escape from the scene.

The former MPA died on the spot whereas his security guard remained unhurt as he was sitting on the back seat of the vehicle.

Shortly after the incident, senior police officials, forensic experts and emergency service Rescue 1122 crew reached the crime scene and shifted the body to the District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem.

A police spokesman said the police had launched investigations but preliminary investigation suggested that the incident was an outcome of old enmity.

Chaudhry Adnan, who had disassociated himself from the PTI following the May 9 violence, had contested the Feb 8 elections on the National Assembly seat (NA-57) and Punjab Assembly seat (PP-19) as an independent candidate. He lost the NA seat to PML-N’s Daniyal Chaudhry and the provincial assembly seat to PTI’s Tanvir Aslam.

Quoting the security guard, sources said that Adnan was on the driving seat when two unidentified gunmen opened fire on him. According to initial police reports, Adnan was hit by five bullets.

The deceased had been elected as the member of Punjab Assembly in 2018 general elections on the PTI ticket.

Adnan was the only son of his parents and had left behind three sisters.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2024