Pakistani journalist shot dead while getting haircut: Police

Police were investigating the killing of a local journalist by an unknown gunman at a barber shop in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, officials said Saturday.

Ajay Lalwani, 31, a reporter for a local television station and an Urdu language newspaper, was shot multiple times while having his hair cut at a barber shop Thursday, said Ashiq Mirani, the area police chief.

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Mirani said Lalwani died in a hospital Thursday night. The shooting took place in the Saleh Pat area of the city of Sukkur.

Mirani said Lalwani was associated with the local Royal News television station and a newspaper but that it wasn’t immediately clear if he was killed because of his “professional duties.”

“We are looking into all aspects of the matter, collecting evidence from the scene and recording statements from witnesses to pinpoint the cause of the offense,” he said.

The officer said witnesses saw a single gunman open fire on Lalwani but that other assailants could have been involved.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the incident and demanded the culprits be brought to justice.

“Police in Sindh province must waste no time investigating the killing of journalist Ajay Lalwani and apprehending those responsible,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “It’s critical that the investigation be led by officers who are able to maintain public confidence, given the long history of tensions between local journalists and the police in Sukkur.”

Ifran Ali Samo, Sukkur’s senior superintendent of police, announced the formation of a team to investigate the killing.

Pakistan has long been a deadly country for journalists. In 2020, it ranked ninth on CPJ’s annual Global Impunity Index, which assesses countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free, with 15 unsolved murders.

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