Cleric shot dead inside mosque in Gujrat
GUJRAT: A renowned religious cleric has been shot dead by four unidentified armed suspects in a local mosque of Shadiwal town in Kunjah police precincts. As per reports, Muhammad Talha Raza was present at the mosque, adjacent to the Jamia Muhammadia Farooqia Rizvia on Saturday evening, when unidentified armed men entered the mosque and one of them opened fire, leaving him critically injured. He…
GUJRAT: Muhammad Talha Raza, a respected religious cleric, met a tragic end when four unknown armed individuals opened fire inside his mosque in Shadiwal town during a Saturday evening gathering. The assailants, who managed to flee the scene on motorbikes, left Raza critically wounded with gunshot wounds to his legs and abdomen. He was promptly transported to the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital in a critical condition, where he tragically passed away early on Sunday morning.
Police swiftly registered a case against Qari Aslam, his son Rehan Aslam, Muhammad Usman, and Qasim Shah, along with several unidentified suspects based on the cleric's account. In his final statement to the police, Raza alleged that he had issued a decree against Qari Aslam for leading the funeral prayers of Asif Shah in Shadiwal around a year ago. He claimed that he had been threatened by the suspects since then, with the most recent threat received via WhatsApp from Dubai on August 20.
Gujrat DPO Faisal Shahzad visited the ABSTH on Saturday night to gather information about the injured cleric. The police have now added Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code to the case and are actively pursuing the investigation, with teams tasked to locate and apprehend the suspects involved in this brutal murder.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
