ISLAMABAD: Police were investigating the killing of a local journalist by an unknown gunman at a barbershop in Sindh, officials said.
Ajay Lalwani, 31, a reporter for a local television station and an Urdu language newspaper, was shot multiple times while having his hair cut at a barber shop Thursday, said Ashiq Mirani, a police official.
Mirani said Lalwani died in a hospital late on Thursday night. The shooting took place in the Saleh Pat area of Sukkur.
Mirani said that Lalwani was associated with Royal News television station and a newspaper but that it wasn’t immediately clear if he was killed because of his “professional duties.”
“We are looking into all aspects of the matter, collecting evidence from the scene and recording statements from witnesses to pinpoint the cause of the offense,” he said.
The officer said that witnesses saw a single gunman open fire on Lalwani but that other assailant could have been involved.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the incident and demanded the culprits be brought to justice.
“Police in Sindh province must waste no time investigating the killing of journalist Ajay Lalwani and apprehending those responsible,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.
“It’s critical that the investigation be led by officers who are able to maintain public confidence, given the long history of tensions between local journalists and the police in Sukkur.”
Journalists in Sukkur have repeatedly held demonstrations against police to protest the filing of sedition charges against journalists who report on the alleged corruption of the provincial government; sometimes these demonstrations are met with police violence, CPJ said.
Ifran Ali Samo, Sukkur’s senior superintendent of police (SSP), announced the formation of a team to investigate the killing.
