According to confirmed reports, an n investigation has begun in Kenya after the regrettable incident which occurred yesterday. In an earlier report, the police said that the journalist was shot in the head by police officers in what they said was a case of mistaken identity.
Mr. Sharif is a strong critic of Pakistan’s military government and a vocal supporter of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan. For fear for his life, he fled his home country and hid in Kenya before the incident struck.
The 49-year-old left Pakistan in May after complaining of harassment. He had previously been in the UK and Dubai before traveling to Kenya.
Kenya’s police watchdog – the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) – said it had sent its rapid response team to the site of Sunday evening’s shooting in Kajiado county near the capital, Nairobi. The team will investigate the “alleged police killing of a Pakistani national.”
In the statement earlier released by the police, it was reported that Mr. Sharif was in a car that officers mistakenly believed to have been stolen. They claimed that the police officers on duty opened fire on the vehicle after it refused to stop at a roadblock.
After the death of the journalist was announced, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the shocking news of journalist Arshad Sharif’s tragic death.”
The country’s Information Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, has warned people – especially the media, against speculating about the circumstances surrounding the death.
In a brief message on Twitter, Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, said she lost a “friend, husband and my favourite journalist.”
Calling for a “proper judicial investigation,” former Prime Minister Khan said he was “shocked” at what he described as a “murder,” adding that he “paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth.”
Well, many critics are of the opinion that there appears to be more than meets the eye regarding the death of the journalist. Arshad Sharif had been living in hiding in Kenya after leaving Pakistan to avoid arrest over criticizing Pakistan’s powerful military. It is believed that the country’s military has been after him since then.
“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” his wife Javeria Siddique tweeted.
The police said Sharif was shot in the head and killed after the car he was traveling in with his brother, Khurram Ahmed, drove through a roadblock set up on the Nairobi-Magadi highway to check vehicles along the key route. They were traveling from the town of Magadi to the Kenyan capital.
According to the police version, the duo ignored the cops’ orders to stop and sped up. “They did not stop and proceeded with the journey,” the police said. Police opened fire and laid chase, during which his car turned over.
News agency AFP reported that in August, Sharif had interviewed senior opposition politician Shahbaz Gill, who said that junior officers in the armed forces should not follow orders that went against “the will of the majority.”
The comment led to the news channel being briefly taken off the air and an arrest warrant being issued for Sharif, who left the country. The channel ARY later said it had “cut ties” with him.
Arshad Sharif was a Pakistani journalist, writer, and television news anchor. He specialized in investigative journalism and covered many political events in the country for national and international news organizations, including the United Kingdom.
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