Senior lawyer Latif Afridi shot dead outside Peshawar High Court

PESHAWAR [Pakistan]: Former Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association President and senior lawyer Latif Afridi was killed after an assailant opened fire on him outside the Peshawar High Court on Monday, Geo News reported.

After he was shot, Afridi was moved to the Lady Reading Hospital of Peshawar but the facility said that the senior lawyer was dead on arrival. The Hospital administration further revealed that six bullets were fired at him.

The mortal remains of the lawyer were transported to his village via ambulance. According to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Kashif Abbasi, Adnan Afridi has been identified as the attacker and he was taken into custody from the crime scene.

The attacker's family belongs to the legal fraternity, as per The Express Tribune. The police are investigating how the gunman managed to get inside the high court premises despite the security. The SSP suspected that there could be personal enmity between the two families which led to this incident while further investigations are underway.

When asked about the security arrangements at the high court, the police official said they are looking into it and action would be taken if any lapse was found, reported Geo News.

It is pertinent to mention that Latif Afridi was acquitted in a murder case by Swat Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Aftab Afridi and his three family members a few weeks ago.

He was booked along with nine others for the judge's assassination. As per details, Aftab Afridi, his wife, a one-and-half-year grandson and daughter-in-law were enroute to Islamabad from Peshawar via Swabi when unidentified assailants attacked his car near the Ambar Interchange in April 2021, according to Geo News.

However, Latif, the then-SCBA president, had denied his involvement in the incident and said that he and his son had been falsely implicated in the case. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his condolence message, expressed deep sorrow and grief over the jurist's murder in Peshawar.

"The worsening law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is alarming, the provincial government should immediately take steps to improve it." Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, condemned the murder, and also questioned the law and order situation.

The National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker also condemned the murder of the lawyer, reported Geo News. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan strongly condemned the killing of Latif Afridi and stated that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was suffering from lawlessness.

The minister said the law-and-order situation in the province was alarming and would not have occurred if the provincial government had focused on peace and order instead of political manipulation.

He furthered that this incident was proof of the seriousness of the law-and-order situation, The Tribune Express reported.