ISLAMABAD: A prominent Pakistani anchorman Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya, his wife said on Twitter on Monday, while a prominent Kenyan newspaper reported that the journalist was killed by police in a case of “mistaken identity.”
Sharif’s talk show Power Play for years aired Monday to Thursday on the ARY news channel, which has been critical of Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the military. He was himself considered a harsh critic of the current ruling coalition and army and fled the country in August after remarks by a politician on a news bulletin he hosted were deemed “seditious” by the country’s media regulator and government.
In August, weeks after the channel was suspended over the allegedly seditious comments and its license revoked, it announced it was parting ways with Sharif.
“I lost friend, husband and my favorite journalist [Arshad Sharif] today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” his wife Javeria Siddique tweeted. “Respect our privacy … Remember us in ur prayers.”
Kenya’s Star newspaper reported that Sharif was “shot in the head and killed by police after he and his driver allegedly breached a roadblock that had been set up to check on motor vehicles using the route.”
Sharif and his driver were driving from Magadi town to Nairobi when they were flagged down at a roadblock manned by police officers, police told the Star.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority in Kenya would investigate the killing, the newspaper said.
“We had an incident of shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity involving a journalist. We will release more information later,” a senior Kenyan police officer was quoted as saying.
“According to police, at the roadblock, there was a call for police to intercept a car similar to the one they were driving following a carjacking incident in Pangani area, Nairobi where a child was taken hostage. And a few minutes later, Sharif’s car emerged at the roadblock and they were stopped and asked to identify themselves,” the Star said.
“They allegedly failed to stop and drove past the roadblock. This prompted a brief chase and shooting that left Sharif dead. Their car rolled and his driver was injured and taken to hospital.”
Pakistan’s information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement Sharif’s body had been identified by the country’s high commissioner, Syeda Saqlain, in Kenya, adding the legal process for its repatriation had also been launched.
The minister said Pakistani authorities in Nairobi had requested local officials to complete the regulatory process as soon as possible.
Prior to that, she called the Sharif’s mother to offer condolences and share all the information available with the government related to the killing of her son.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed sadness over the news of Sharif’s death, praying for the departed soul.
Pakistan’s military media wing, ISPR, issued a brief statement as well wherein it expressed grief at Sharif’s death while condoling with the bereaved family.
The country’s president, Dr. Arif Alvi, who presented the Pride of Performance award to the deceased journalist, described it as “a great loss.”
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the incident had sent “shock waves through the journalist community” in the country while calling for “transparent inquiry” into the circumstances of Sharif’s death.
The demand for “judicial investigation” into Sharif’s death was also made by former prime minister Imran Khan.
“Shocked at the brutal murder of Arshad Sharif who paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth — his life,” he wrote on Twitter. “He had to leave the country & be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death.”
