SARGODHA, Sept 21: Former district president of Tehrik-i-Jaffria Syed Bashir Hussain Bukhari was shot dead by two young men in the Muslim Bazaar here on Thursday morning.

After the incident, Shia youths blocked the Sargodha-Khushab Road for two hours and set old tyres on fire. Traders closed their business in protest and voiced their concern over ‘terrorism’.

Bukhari was witness and complainant in the 1996 killing of two local Shia leaders — Maulana Nasir Hussain Najfi and Maqbool Hussain Khan — allegedly by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi activists.

DPO Sheikh Mohammad Umer said that a special team under the supervision of SP Investigation Abdul Hameed Khan had been constituted which would soon arrest the culprits.

Meanwhile, District Nazim Sheikh Inamul Haq Piracha has appealed the people to maintain peace.

Tension prevails here and police have been put on high alert to cope with the situation.