Guard shoots three traders dead over sacking

LAHORE
Three traders, including chairman of a Car Dealers Union Shafqat Zaheer, were shot dead by a security guard over sacking and non-payment of his dues in Faisal Town police limits.
The accused, who worked as a security guard at a car market on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, was fired a couple of days ago for his ‘unprofessional’ behavior by the traders.
On Wednesday, the traders were sitting outside Jinnah Motors Showroom when the accused guard came there and exchanged harsh words with them over his job and salary. In the heat of argument, the guard pulled out his weapon and shot at the traders who died on the spot. The accused also shot at another trader, Hassan, but he survived.
Eyewitnesses said the guard was impulsive in nature and did not perform his duties vigilantly. He would flare up and break the windows of cars and argue with the dealers without a reason, they said.
A heavy contingent of police cordoned off the area. Officials of the Crime Scene Unit also reached and collected forensic evidence. The police also recorded statements of eyewitnesses.
No FIR was registered till the filing of the report.
The deceased were identified as Malik Shafqat Zaheer, 55, son of Zaheer, Adeel, 33, son of Mushtaq and Abdul Waheed, son of Afzal.
The killer, identified as Abass Shah, a resident of Imamia Colony, escaped.
Malik Shafqat is survived by a wife, two sons and a daughter while Abdul Waheed leaves behind a widow and a two-month-old son.
Woman burnt alive: A 40-year-old woman was burnt alive and her husband sustained injuries as a fire broke out due to gas leakage in the Liaqatabad police limits on Wednesday.
Rubina, wife of Iftikhar attempted to light gas cylinder. Suddenly, the fire broke out and engulfed the whole room in no time.
She tried to run to save her life but to no avail. Rescue teams rushed the victims to a nearby hospital, where Rubina died while Iftikhar survived. Police have removed the body to morgue.
ACCIDENTS: At least 646 road traffic accidents were reported in Rescue 1122’s Provincial Monitoring Cell in all 36 districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours; in which five lives were lost and 495 seriously injured were shifted to different hospitals of relevant district. However, some 258 minor injured were provided first aid by Rescue 1122 on the spot.