July 29, 2020
By Our Correspondent
PESHAWAR
An elderly man accused of blasphemy was shot dead inside a court room in Peshawar during the hearing of a case, police confirmed.
The incident happened on July 29, at around 12 o clock pm Peshawar’s judicial complex in Court Room 14, where additional sessions Judge Shoukat Ali was hearing the case.
In the afternoon, CCPO Peshawar Muhammad Ali Gandapur and SSP operation Mansoor Aman visited the spot and ordered an investigation of the killing.
“We are investigating the case,” the CCPO told Voicepk.net, adding that the police had arrested the killer. “At the moment we have little information but we have started investigation into the killing.”
SSP Aman said that the accused who was in police custody had revealed that his name was Faisal and he was an Afghan national. He was not even the complainant in the case.
Aman added that police have formed a joint investigation team to investigate the killing.
He further added that they have received information that the victim was a US national saying police further probing the case.
Police identified the victim Tahir Ahmed Naseem and shifted his dead body to Khyber Medical University for post mortem.
Nazeen Bibi, a lawyer said that a case had been registered against Tahir Ahmed Naseem under the Blasphemy Law and that he was at court for the hearing.
In a tragic incident today a man was shot dead in front of a judge in Peshawar. It is being reported that he was Ahmadi, which is not true. He was born Ahmadi but left the community many years ago. /1
— Saleem ud Din (@SaleemudDinAA) July 29, 2020
“During the hearing, the complainant who identified himself as Khalid, a student of a madrassah, argued with the victim saying that he was an Ahmadi and asked him to recite the Kalma Tayyaba,,” she said, adding that when an argument ensued, he aimed the pistol at Khalid and shot him dead.
The judicial complex is situated in a high security zone and there is proper body search at the main gate of the complex.
Meanwhile the Ahmaddiya community spokesperson Salimuddin has posted on Twitter that the victim Tahir had been born to an Ahmaddiya family but had later moved away from the community.