FAISALABAD: A prominent industrialist was shot dead at close range after he chased his stolen luxury vehicle through city streets, in a case that has raised serious questions about the role of a valet parking attendant at a renowned Faisalabad club, police said.
Mian Rehan Ashraf, owner of the GMSA company and a valet parking service, was killed Thursday evening after suspects opened indiscriminate fire on him near a power station on Jaranwala Road, according to the first information report registered at Sadar Faisalabad Police Station on the complaint of his brother, Hasan Ashraf.
According to the FIR, Ashraf had driven his Land Cruiser to the city's famous Chenab Club, accompanied by his brothers Rehan and Amjad, for a meal. The three handed the car over to the club's valet parking staff and went inside.
Shortly after they began eating, the vehicle's signals on Ashraf's mobile phone repeatedly disappeared and reappeared, alerting him because the car was equipped with a tracking device. He rushed to the parking area but found neither his vehicle nor the parking attendant who had taken the keys, according to the FIR.
Ashraf immediately informed the tracker company and police, after which the company began sending the vehicle's live location to his WhatsApp. He and his friends then pursued the stolen car in another vehicle, following the tracker's direction through various parts of the city.
They caught up with the stolen vehicle near a power station on Jaranwala Road, where it was stuck in a traffic jam with the suspects still inside. When Ashraf spotted his car, he got out and ran toward it. The suspects opened fire, striking him multiple times, and fled with the vehicle, police said.
Ashraf was being taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition but succumbed to his wounds on the way.
Police have registered a murder case under serious charges and launched raids to arrest the suspects, expanding the scope of the investigation with technical assistance. The FIR states that the parking attendant who had kept the car keys was also missing from the scene, and initial reports indicate the owner of the valet parking service was found to be involved in the incident.
Faisalabad's business organizations, trader leaders and civil society groups strongly condemned the killing and urged law-enforcement agencies to examine all aspects of what they described as criminal negligence by the Chenab Club parking management, and to immediately arrest and bring the killers to exemplary punishment.
