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ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Tuesday said that journalist Arshad Sharif was killed in a “targeted attack”, saying no evidence was found to support the narrative that he was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity.
In Kenya, Sharif was allegedly shot dead by the local police on the evening of October 23. The local police initially claimed that Sharif was killed by police in a case of “mistaken identity,” according to the Kenyan media.
However, following accounts from the Kenyan media reconstructed the circumstances leading up to the murder, indicating that it was alleged that a passenger in Sharif’s car fired at paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers.
The government subsequently formed a team which travelled to Kenya to investigate the killing.
Sanaullah stated today during a press conference in Islamabad that the team had updated him on the inquiry after arriving from Kenya.
“We have made the decision to ask the ambassador and foreign minister for the information gathered by Kenyan officials.” He said.
“Prima facie, it is a targeted murder as the narrative of ‘mistaken identity’ has not been proven […] and there are many doubts,” he said, adding that further information would only emerge after a detailed investigation was conducted.
Sanaullah also said that shots were fired at Sharif’s car in a “very technical manner”.
“How did the police know where Arshad was sitting [in the car]? In my view, the shooters knew who Arshad Sharif was and where he was sitting in the vehicle. The driver also knew what was about to happen where.”
The minister claimed that the items taken from the crime site by the police had not yet been returned. Many items have been recovered; however, some are still in the Kenyan police’s custody.
Sanaullah claimed that the chief justice could consider Sharif’s mother’s complaints about the investigation and name a new chairman of the commission to look into the murder.
