Journalist among four killed in Charsadda firing

CHARSADDA: Four persons, including a journalist, were killed in a firing incident here on Tuesday, police sources said.

The sources said the accused identified as Arshad Jamal, who was said to be a drug addict, opened fire on his mother, sister-in-law, nephew and cousin over a domestic issue at Tala Shah in Umarzai area of the Charsadda district.

The slain person were identified as Gulshan, Rani, Haider and Ihsanullah Sherpao, who was general secretary of the Charsadda Press Club and happened to be the cousin of the accused.

Ihsanullah Sherpao worked as a district correspondent for a private television channel.

The police said the accused, Arshad Jamal, was a drug addict and had recently gone to Karachi for medical treatment. He had reportedly fired at his wife, leaving her critically injured, in the recent past.

The accused managed to escape from the crime scene using his nine-year-old daughter as a human shield. The police arrived at the spot and collected evidence. The bodies were taken to a hospital for post-mortem. The police registered the case on the complaint of Amanullah, the brother of the slain journalist, and started conducting raids to arrest the accused.

Meanwhile, the slain journalist Ihsanullah Sherpao and others were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard.

A number of local journalists, social workers, villagers, well-wishers and people from all walks of life attended the funeral prayers.

Journalists in Charsadda announced three-day mourning and demanded the police to arrest the accused.