Journalist Arshad Sharif killed in Kenya
Islamabad: Former ARY anchor and journalist Arshad Sharif has been shot dead in Kenyan capital Nairobi, his wife Javeria Siddiqui said on Monday.
Kenya police said Arshad 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.
The Pakistani journalist was shot dead Sunday night along the Nairobi-Magadi highway in what police termed as a mistaken identity.
Javeria Siddiqui took to Twitter and confirmed the tragic news, acknowledging that her husband was killed in Kenya.
In a statement, she urged the media and the public not to share their family pictures, personal details, and Sharif’s last pictures from the hospital on social media.
Journalist Moeed Pirzada visited the house of Arshad Sharif and later said the anchor was shot in the head by a sniper.
He claimed that “Assasins got to Arshad at a time when he was all set to come back; Islamabad High Court was to hear his petition on 27th October. He had left when apparently he was tipped of a murder plot through Afghan assassins! So they were after him for past several weeks.”
Earlier, ARY reported that Arshad Sharif was killed in a road accident. The TV channel was condemned for incorrect reporting online.
Geo News London bureau chief Murtaza Ali Shah said, “Arshad Sharif has been living near London since leaving Pakistan a few weeks back. Spoke to him last week, he spoke excitedly about Pakistan, politics and media.”
Hundreds of people including journalists to ok to social media to express grief and anger over the murder of Arshad Sharif who had escaped from Pakistan a few months ago.
He was recently seen in the trailer for a documentary titled “Behind Closed Doors”.
The documentary about corruption was propagated by some people as a Netflix project, a claim that was denied by the streaming giant.