Journalist Arshad Sharif died in Kenya after being shot, according to his wife Javeria Siddique.
She wrote, “I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist @arsched today, as per police he was shot in Kenya. Respect our privacy and in the name of breaking pls don’t share our family pics, personal details and his last pictures from hospital.”
Kenyan police report:
According to a Kenyan police report, Arshad was traveling with a man they claim was his brother Khurram Ahmed. The police was tipped off about a stolen car outside an electrical shop. The owner of the car had left his son in the car. When he came back, he found that the car was missing and his son had been abducted. The police traced the car and when they found the car, they state that Arshad and Khurram Ahmed did not stop the car. They were fired upon and when the car was stopped, Sharif had died from a gun shot wound to the head. According to the police report, the car was fired upon nine times.
According to Arshad’s former employer ARY News, “Police in Kenya have confirmed his death and have opened an investigation into the accident which likely involved a gun attack.”
He leaves behind five children. The family has asked the media and the general public to refrain from making assumptions and disseminating rumours regarding Arshad Sharif’s death.
According The Star, a credible news outlet and one of the biggest in Kenya “Arshad Sharif was shot in the head and killed by police after he and his driver allegedly breached a roadblock that had been set up to check on motor vehicles using the route.”
“They were driving from Magadi town to Nairobi when they were flagged down at a roadblock being manned by a group of police officers, police said.”
“According to police, at the roadblock, there was a call for police to intercept a car similar to the one they were driving following a carjacking incident in Pangani area, Nairobi where a child was taken hostage.”
“And a few minutes later, Sharif’s car emerged at the roadblock and they were stopped and asked to identify themselves,” reads the news report.
“They allegedly failed to stop and drove past the roadblock.”
“This prompted a brief chase and shooting that left Sharif dead. Their car rolled and his driver was injured and taken to hospital.”
“He later told police he and his slain colleague were developers and were headed for a site in Magadi.”
Condolences poured in from politicians after Arshad’s death.
Imran Khan
Former Prime Minister (PM) and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ImranKhan has also expressed his grief over the death of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.
“Shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth – his life. He had to leave the country & be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death,” he wrote in a tweet.
The former PM in his tweet demanded a “proper judicial investigation”.
“A proper judicial investigation must be instituted to examine his own statements plus evidence that other sources have. We have descended into a state of brutality, unknown in civilised society, indulged in by the powerful against those who dare to criticise & expose wrongdoings,” Khan added in his tweet.
“My prayers and condolences go to his grief stricken family.”
ISPR
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has expressed grief over the tragic death of the senior journalist.
“May Allah grant patience to the family members of Arshad Sharif in this hour of sorrow,” the ISPR statement added.
President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif have expressed their grief.
