LOWER DIR: A schoolteacher and his young daughter were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Shorshing area here on Wednesday morning, triggering a protest and closure of the main Chakdara-Chitral Road for about three hours.

According to police and local residents, teacher Umar Khaliq of government primary school in Shorshing was on his way to school on a motorcycle when unidentified gunmen opened fire, killing him on the spot in the jurisdiction of Asbanr police station. His minor daughter, accompanying him, was also killed in the attack.

Enraged relatives and residents placed the bodies on the road in Gulabad area and staged a demonstration, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. Long queues of vehicles formed on both the sides of the road, causing lot of inconvenience to passengers, particularly patients.

Local political leaders, including PPP’s Naeemullah Khan, Taza Khan, Shamsul Qamar and others, addressed the protesters, insisting that the killers be apprehended without any delay.

The protest ended peacefully after successful negotiations between the demonstrators’ representatives and DSP Fakhr-i-Alam, assistant commissioner Saleem Ayubi and other officials, who assured that the perpetrators would soon be arrested.

Also in the day, a man, identified as Amal Khan, 45, died of electric shock in Undak village of Maidan in the jurisdiction of Haya Serai police station here on Wednesday, the police said.

Residents said that the deceased, Amal Khan, fell unconscious after receiving an electric shock at his home. He was shifted to a hospital in Timergara where doctors pronounced him dead.

The local police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, body of a 13-year-old boy was recovered after he drowned in the Panjkora River near Khall on Wednesday, officials said.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025