Islamabad: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that the dead body of slain journalist, Arshad Sharif, has been dispatched to Pakistan from Kenya.
Separately, the Foreign Office, in a statement, said: “The mortal remains of the late journalist are being repatriated from Nairobi tonight on board flight departing Nairobi at 1:25 am for Doha.”
“Onward flight will leave Doha at 1935 hours (25 Oct) and arrive in Islamabad at 1:05 hours tomorrow night,” the FO added.
Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday night which, according to the Kenyan Police, was a case of “mistaken identity”. Arshad’s wife, Javeria Siddique, confirmed in the early hours of Monday.
The tragic news was later confirmed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Kenya received initial information about the death of Mr. Arshad Sharif early in the morning of 24 October,” MoFA said in a statement.
The Pakistani Mission in Keyna was informed that the body was in Chiromo Funeral House in Nairobi. After that, the High Commissioner, along with Mission’s officers, reached the location and identified the body of Arshad Sharif.
A Kenyan news agency also said the journalist had been shot dead on Sunday night along the Nairobi-Magadi highway in what police termed a “mistaken identity” case.
“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 news stated.
Later, addressing a press conference, the chairperson of Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Ann Makori, said that a “rapid response team” had been dispatched to investigate the killing of the journalist.
