NAIROBI, Kenya
A senior Pakistani journalist was shot dead Sunday night along the Nairobi-Magadi highway in what police termed as a mistaken identity.
Arshad Sharif was shot in the
head and killed by trigger-happy 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.
Police headquarters said
Independent Policing Oversight Authority will take over the case.
A senior police officer
confirmed the shooting and added a comprehensive statement will be released
later.
“We had an incident of
shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity involving a
journalist. We will release more information later,” the officer 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.
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.
The news of the incident
spread fast in Pakistan where the journalist was prominent.
Sharif’s wife Javeria Siddiqui
took to Twitter and confirmed the tragic news, acknowledging that her husband
was killed in Kenya.
“I lost friend, husband and my
favourite journalist [Arshad Sharif] today, as per police he was shot in
Kenya,” she tweeted.
She also urged the media and
the public not to share their family pictures, personal details, and Sharif’s
last pictures from the hospital on social media.
Sharif was previously
associated with ARY News and had gone to Dubai after resigning from the
channel.
Following the news of Sharif's
death, condolences started pouring in from across the country.
PTI chairman and former Prime
Minister Imran Khan expressed his condolences over the death of journalist
Arshad Sharif.
PML-N leader Hina Pervaiz Butt
extended heartfelt condolences on the demise of the journalist, while PTI
leader Ali Zaidi also expressed his grief on the death of Shariff
President Dr Arif Alvi termed
Sharif’s death a loss for journalism and Pakistan.
“May his soul rest in peace
and may his family, which includes his followers, have the strength to bear
this loss,” Alvi said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
said he was deeply saddened. He offered condolences and prayers for the
journalist’s family.
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