November 6th, 2020 

Bureau Report

LAHORE

Referring to the murderer of a bank manager in Khushab, Fawad Chaudhary, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, has called upon the State to make perpetrators of such cases an example for those who use the pretext of blasphemy to settle personal scores.

In a tweet on November 6, the minister said that the biggest-ever blasphemy was that done in the name of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) to settle a personal vendetta, and referred specifically to the killing of a bank manager by the bank’s security guard in the Quaidabad tehsil of Khushab district.

“Injustice has been committed in Quaidabad. It is incumbent upon the State to set an example of criminals in such cases so that nobody dares to repeat such an act again,” Hussain tweeted.

On November 4, Ahmed Nawaz, a guard at National Bank in Quaidabad, shot dead his branch manager Imran Hanif at the office and later turned himself into the police where he made a statement about the allegation of blasphemy.

News reports said residents of Quaidabad rejected repeated calls from local clerics and some political workers to shut business to show their support for the killer of a bank manager on Thursday.

Police officials said Ahmed Nawaz, the accused guard, has been shifted to a jail in Khushab on 14-day judicial remand on November 5. The accused has been charged with attempt to murder and murder under Sections 324 and 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code in the first information report (FIR). He will be presented before a court on November 19.

A large number of people attended the funeral of Mailk Mohammad Imran Hanif at Jauharabad.  The prayer leader said at the funeral the deceased belonged to a Sunni sect family and was a true lover of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Footage doing the rounds shows that those in the audience confirmed the prayer leader’s statement by raising their hands.

Police officials said the Quaidabad city remained calm and no strike was observed by traders. Muhammad Waris Shad, Member of Punjab Assembly from Khushab, told Voicepk.net that on the day of the killing bazaars were shut for a few hours as people and traders feared the situation get out of hand. However, he said the video message of Raja Fayaz, the maternal uncle of Imran Hanif, and Fakhruddin Shah, a local and respected religious leader, quickly cleared up the confusion in the public. People now have rallied behind Imran Hanif’s family, he said. Shad said the guard had killed Imran Hanif over a personal vendetta and there was no truth to the allegation of blasphemy as claimed by the accused.

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