GUJRAT: A dispenser belonging to the minority Ahmadiyya community was shot dead by two mot­orcyclists at a dental clinic in Alipur village near Lala­musa City on Saturday.

Police said Zakaur Reh­man was present in his clinic along the GT Road when two gunmen arrived there and one of them entered the clinic and ope­ned fire at him. The assailants fled the scene immediately after the crime.

Zakaur Rehman, 53, received three bullets in upper part of his body and died on the spot.

A team of Lalamusa Sa­­ddar police reached the spot and shifted the body to the Kharian Tehsil Hea­dquarters Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

A team of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency also reached the spot and collected forensic evidence from the scene.

A spokesman for Gujrat police said since there were no security cameras inside the clinic, the CCTV footage had been obtained from nearby shops to identify the assailants.

Gujrat District Police Officer Mustanser Atta Bajwa inspected the crime scene and constituted different teams under the SP investigation to trace the suspects.

A police official said the victim owned the clinic and had hired a dentist. He would assist him as a dispenser but locals would call him ‘doctor’.

Meanwhile, a spokesm­­an for the Jamaat Ahma­d­iyya Pakistan condemned the murder and said the deceased was an official of the local Jamaat chapter. He is survived by a widow, a son and three daughters.

The spokesman claimed that attacks on the Ahma­diyya community had increased after a Supreme Court decision of releasing a community member on bail after acceptance of his review petition.

He urged the government and superior judiciary to take notice of the attacks on his community members.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024