ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: The federal government on Sunday took serious note of the assassination of additional advocate general Punjab Chaudhry Arif Bhinder and directed the provincial government to submit a report on the incident to the Centre, sources in the interior ministry told Dawn.

The sources said Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao had directed the provincial government to immediately arrest the killers of Mr Bhinder, so that they could be punished.

Mr Bhinder, his brother Kashif Binder and nephew Mohammad Waseem were gunned down in Lahore on Friday.

The incident occurred a day after President General Pervez Musharraf directed the federal and provincial governments to control increasing crime rate in their respective jurisdictions.