Mehboob Asif was shot by two unidentified assailants a stone´s throw from the embassy at Maharajgunj, taking four bullets to the stomach and limbs, but survived.
In this first ever attempt here on the life of a foreign diplomatic staffer, Asif was attacked at 9:05 AM while he was going to work on his motorcycle (Ba. 16. Pa 9045). He works at the visa section of the embassy.[break]
As in two previous shootings, police have been clueless about this one also. The gunmen fled the scene on the victim´s motorcycle, a black Splendor, through the alleys at Basundhara. The bike was later found abandoned near Kanti Children´s Hospital.
The assailants, who were lurking beside the slope in the Ring Road, suddenly confronted Asif and one of them rapidly fired at least five rounds and knocked him down. One of the bullets was found to have strayed.
Despite being hit by four bullets, Asif sped to his nearby office to seek help. From there he was rushed to Om Hospital at Chabahil, which immediately referred him to TU Teaching Hospital. “Surprisingly, he hurried here, saying he was shot and we rushed him to hospital,” said a cop deputized at the embassy entrance.
The 37-year-old, who has been working at the embassy for three years, was operated on his right arm to take out two bullets. A single bullet that entered his stomach and another one in his right thigh are not to be taken out immediately, police said citing doctors involved in the treatment.
“He is out of danger and doctors said the remaining 9mm bullets need not be extracted urgently,” said DSP Deepak Thapa, chief of Metropolitan Police Circle Maharajgunj.
Assailants linked to ´old incident´
Officials involved in investigations said there is a viable lead for identifying the culprits. A sketch prepared on the basis of the victim´s statement somehow resembled one from a similar incident which officials requested not to be mentioned due to the sensitivity of the case.
“This is a big plan,” said officials. “However, most usefully for investigations, the victim was lucky enough to survive. Because of that, we at least have the tentative features of the assailants.”
Two tall and lean individuals with dark complexions and wearing slippers had stopped the moving motorcycle and attacked Asif all in a flash, officials said.
Kathmandu police, despite failing to arrest the assailants, reacted to the incident with sweeping searches, detaining 175 persons and sending them home after questioning throughout the day.
“As this looks to be a very well-planned crime, we need great resolve to investigate it. We are doing our best,” said SP Puskar Karki, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK)
Pakistan hopes for effective investigation
In the wake of the incident, the Pakistani embassy in Kathmandu said it hoped Nepali authorities would carry out investigations effectively and bring the culprits to justice. “This incident has shocked us while both the neighboring nations have shared highly friendly relations for ages,” the embassy´s first secretary, Azhar Nazir, told Republica.
Bleak security scene
The shooting of the Pakistani embassy official occurs against the background of an already horrendous picture of the nation´s deteriorating security over a period of little over a month.
A glimpse at the incidents:
-March 10: Yunus Ansari shot by an Indian national at Central Jail
-March 25: Sipradi Company staffer Premkrishna Maharjan shot dead by unidentified assailants at Teku
-March 25, 26, 27: Blasts in passenger buses in Rautahat, Nepalgunj and Butwal respectively
-April 10: Indian trader Anjani Kumar Chachan shot dead by the unidentified assailants at Ganabahal
-April 11: Newly-appointed energy minister Gokarna Bista injured by unidentified assailants
-April 14 : Pakistani embassy staffer shot on April 14 at Maharajgunj
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