NAIROBI: A top news anchor was shot dead by police in Kenya after he fled his home country to avoid sedition charges, investigators said Monday, prompting calls for a full probe into what one media rights group branded an “utterly disturbing murder”.
Arshad Sharif, 49, was a supporter of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April.
In a phone call with Kenyan President William Ruto, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for a transparent investigation into the late-night shooting on Sunday.
Kenyan national police spokesman Bruno Shioso said the journalist was fatally wounded by an officer after his car drove through a police barrier in the Magadi area, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Nairobi.
“It is then that they were shot at, fatally injuring late Arshad Mohammed Sharif,” he said in a statement, adding that the journalist was travelling with a man described as his “brother” Khurram Ahmed.
“National Police Service regrets this unfortunate incident,” he said. The killing triggered concern among media groups and a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
According to a police report seen by AFP, the car carrying the two men was struck by around nine bullets, but continued on to the home of another Pakistani national.
There, Sharif was found to be dead “with a gunshot wound on the head which had penetrated from the back”.
The report said police at the time had been on the lookout for a stolen car and an abducted person and had set up a makeshift roadblock.
In a post on Twitter, PM Sharif said he had asked Ruto to “ensure fair & transparent investigation into shocking incident. He promised all-out help including fast-tracking the process of return of the body to Pakistan.”
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.