Unidentified miscreants opened fire at estranged PPP leader Sardar Latif Khosa’s house in Lahore in the early hours of Friday, injuring his driver, he said.
“Shots were fired at my house, injuring my driver. Unknown men fired shots and fled,” the senior lawyer told Dawn.com.
“I was listening to a client’s case at my home. I heard shots, my driver came inside and said that he has been hit by a shot,” the former Punjab governor said.
“When I went outside, I saw [bullet] holes in the gate. A bullet also hit my car. The shots were fired from a Kalashnikov.
Pictures and videos of his house showed several bullets lying on the ground inside and outside his house along with a bullet hole in his car’s front bumper.
Bullet holes and damage caused by the firing could also be seen on his house’s main gate.
Khosa said that till 7pm on Thursday, he was attending a lawyer’s convention — organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association — where he talked about the “Constitution’s supremacy […] and the judicial system”.
“I said [during the convention] that unconstitutional government has been imposed in two provinces. The way chants are raised outside the Supreme Court, it is contempt [of court],” the veteran lawyer said.
He lamented: “There was a huge applause there but here [those remarks] sparked [the firing].”
Khosa asserted: “The lawyer’s movement cannot be weakened by such tactics. We are standing with the chief justice [of Pakistan].
Noting that “power is being grossly abused”, the former Punjab governor said he had never before seen such a period in the country’s history.
The senior lawyer also recalled the incident in January this year when his son suffered injuries after two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at him outside the Punjab University Gate.
“The suspects have not been caught [even] in a city like Lahore. This is Defence [area] — Lahore’s red zone.”
Following the incident, Cantt Superintendent of Police Owais Shafique, the Punjab police, Defence Housing Authority’s security team and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan reached Khosa’s house.
Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar took notice of the incident and sought a report from Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana.
The IG ordered a “complete investigation” to be conducted on the matter. He also directed that the culprits be immediately arrested with the help of CCTV footage.
Visiting Khosa’s house, Barrister Ahsan said: “They think that the lawyers will be intimidated by these incidents intended to make us afraid. We strongly condemn this incident.”
