BAHAWALPUR, March 30: Caretaker of an imambargah and his son were reportedly shot dead by two motorcyclists near Sabzi Mandi here on Saturday night.

Arif Husain Bhatti, 46, was the caretaker of Bhattianwala Imambargah and was founding another imambargah at Shams Colony.

He was running a general store near Sabzi Mandi.

Arif Bhatti’s nephew Ghulam Abbas told police that his uncle and cousin Ali Muntazir, 19, were closing the shop at around 8pm when the assailants appeared on a Honda motorcycle. They opened indiscriminate fire on them and sped away from the scene after injuring them.

The injured were rushed to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital. Muntazir died on way to hospital while Arif succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Tanvir Husain, the elder son of Arif, claimed that his father died due to delay in provision of medical aid. He alleged that the staff wasted time in fulfilling legal formalities.

As the death of Arif Husain was announced, a large number of people gathered outside the casualty ward of the BVH resorted to violence. They damaged windowpanes of the ward. The staff on duty had to rush to safety fearing manhandling by the angry mob.

A heavy police contingent was rushed to the hospital which brought the situation under control.

Meanwhile, the people refused postmortem examination on the body.

Arif was the father of seven sons and two daughters.