Former PM nominated in murder FIR of lawyer pleading his treason case

• FIR registered under the charges of terrorism, murder and others.
• Slain lawyer's son nominate PTI chief and others in the murder case.
• Advocate Shar gunned down by unidentified men on three motorcycles.

QUETTA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been nominated in a murder case of Senior Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar who was shot dead by armed motorcyclists on Airport Road in Quetta, Balochistan on Tuesday.

A first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of the slain lawyer’s son advocate Siraj Ahmed in Quetta, police sources said on Wednesday.

The former prime minister and others have been nominated in the FIR registered by Shahid Jamil Kakar police station under the charges of murder, Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and other provisions, the sources added.

Advocate Shar was gunned down by unidentified people on three motorcycles while he was on his way to the Balochistan High Court (BHC) earlier this week.

“According to eyewitnesses, he was travelling in his relative’s vehicle,” the official said. Shar was immediately rushed to the Quetta Civil Hospital but succumbed to his injuries on the way. He sustained 16 bullets.

A day earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Ataullah Tarar held the PTI chairman “directly responsible” for the murder.

He claimed that the targeted killing was related to a treason case against Imran, which Shar was pleading.

A division bench of the BHC, comprising Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Muhammad Amir Nawaz Rana, had heard Shar’s petition on May 29 seeking the former prime minister’s trial under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Advocate Shar had pleaded that the deposed premier had violated the Constitution by advising the president to dissolve the National Assembly, and thus, should be tried under Article 6.

The BHC bench, after the initial hearing, had issued notices to Additional Attorney General Rauf Atta and Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Naeem Kasi and directed them to submit a reply on the next hearing scheduled for June 7.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, the SAPM alleged that Khan “got the lawyer killed to protect himself from the treason case”.

Terming his killing murder of law, Tarar lamented that Advocate Shar was gunned down in broad daylight and promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder. “Imran will be nominated in this murder case,” the PML-N leader had said.

“The PTI has become a militant and terrorist outfit… Imran won’t be able to save himself in this case “You will have to come and attend every hearing and also surrender if ordered by the court,” he asserted.