by Umer Farooq in Dawn, Jan 17th, 2023
PESHAWAR: One of the country’s senior most lawyers, Abdul Latif Afridi, was shot dead in a broad daylight attack inside the bar room of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday, allegedly over a family feud.
Mr Afridi, 80, was sitting in the bar room with other lawyers when the attacker opened fire, SSP Operations Kashif Abbasi said.
Mr Afridi, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, was rushed to Lady Reading Hospital but he could not survive.
The police claimed that the attacker, identified as Adnan Samiullah Afridi, was arrested from the spot and moved to East Cantonment Police Station where a case has been registered.
An officer at the police station told Dawn that the suspect had confessed to the crime and that he had killed the victim over a family feud.
Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Muhammad Ijaz Khan has formed a fact-finding committee, with the SSP investigation as its head, to probe how the attackers managed to sneak a weapon into the court’s premises.
The committee will submit its report within 24 hours.
Funeral will be held on Tuesday (today) at 11am at Hayatabad’s Bagh-i-Naran.
The KP Bar Council has announced a three-day mourning besides a one-day boycott of legal proceedings on Tuesday as a protest.
The incident shocked the legal fraternity with the majority believing that the attack could be the result of a long-standing family feud.
Some senior lawyers, on condition of anonymity, said that in April 2021, an ATC judge Aftab Afridi, his wife and two kids were gunned down in Swabi.
Majid Afridi, the son of the deceased judge, nominated Mr Latif, along with nine others, for being involved in the attack.
Mr Latif Afridi was granted bail by the PHC four days after the attack as he denied any involvement and assured the court of his full cooperation with the authorities during the investigation.
On Dec 24, 2022, a Swabi court acquitted Mr Latif and four others, including his son Danish Afridi.
Samiullah Afridi, the father of Adnan Samiullah Afridi, the prime suspect in Monday’s attack, was also shot dead in 2015. He was part of a lawyers’ team contesting the case of Shakil Afridi.
Shakil Afridi has been accused of helping the US track down former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of ties to militants, a charge he has always denied.
Although two militant organisations claimed responsibility for killing Mr Samiullah, his family refused to accept the claim and stated that someone else was involved in the murder.
After the death of his father, Mr Adnan left for the UAE, citing threats to his life.
PBC, SCBA announce strikes
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) — two premier lawyers’ bodies — have also announced a country-wide strike on Tuesday (today)……..
https://www.dawn.com/news/1732062/senior-lawyer-afridi-shot-dead-in-phcs-bar-room
