Pir Binyamin Rizvi, driver and body guard shot dead in Lahore
26-6-2004
LAHORE, June 26: Punjab PML-N vice-president and former provincial minister Pir Binyamin Rizvi was shot dead along with his driver and guard by unknown gunmen near the New Campus bridge here on Saturday.
Police said the 52-year-old politician was coming from the PML-N Secretariat in Garden Town when his car (PG-9152) was intercepted near the Punjab University New Campus by two motorcyclists.
They sprayed bullets on the car, killing Mr Rizvi, his driver Pir Hakeem (40), and guard Naseer (35) on the spot.
Traffic remained suspended on the roads leading to the New Campus bridge for at least half-an-hour following the shooting. Police restored traffic after removing the bodies to the city mortuary.
Mr Rizvi sustained over half-a-dozen bullets, said a doctor.
Pir Binyamin's brother Tariq Shah told Dawn that his brother had been receiving threats from some government officials for the last several days. "They had asked my brother to stay away from active politics," he said.
However, SSP (Investigation) Chaudhry Shafqaat Ahmed said that Mr Rizvi had an old enmity with the family of Azam Chaddar of Mandi Bahauddin. Chaddar was murdered a couple of years ago. His family suspected that Pir Binyamin had some role in the murder, he said.
He said that a police team had been sent to Mandi Bahauddin for the arrest of the suspects.
The funeral prayers will be held at Masjid-i-Shuhada on Sunday here at 10.30am. He will be laid to rest at Phalia.
10 suspects held in Binyamin case
27-6-2004
LAHORE, June 27: Police on Sunday took into custody 10 people in connection with the murder of Punjab PML-(N vice-president Pir Binyamin Rizvi. However, no major breakthrough was reported.
"We are questioning several people in connection with the triple murder," city police chief DIG Tariq Saleem said, and added the case was being investigated from different aspects. Chiefly, he said, it seemed to be an outcome of old enmity.
Investigator SP Tahir Alam said besides the old enmity there could be a possibility of sectarianism as the motive behind the crime. He said there had been a sectarian clash in Phalia, the native town of the parliamentarian, some tow years.
He said the politician had taken part in the follow-ups of the clash. Of the old rivalry, the SP said the former minister had been nominated in the murder of Maj Muhammad Azam (retired), who was his political rival.
The investigator said that evidence collected from the scene was sent to the laboratory. It included finger prints and empties of the automatic weapons used in the crime, he added.
On the other hand, the bodies were returned to the families after autopsy. The bodies of the gunman and the driver were taken to their native towns.
Refering Site