PbBC leader's murder: Police focus on 'fake' lawyers scam.

LAHORE -- Police investigating the murder of Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) secretary who was sprayed with bullets on his way back home late on Saturday night have found strong possibilities that the 'targeted killing' is linked to his struggle to expose 'fake lawyers' by pursuing legal action against them.

As the assassination of 50-year-old lawyer, Mohammad Ashraf Rahi, in Lahore months after the killing of Sindh Bar Council Secretary Irfan Ali Mehr in Karachi sent a wave of resentment among the legal fraternity, the Punjab chief minister on Sunday ordered early arrest of the attackers and sought a report from Lahore police chief. Initial investigations showed that over 100 fake degree cases of lawyers had been exposed and Mr Rahi was pursuing legal course of action against them, the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) told Dawn on Sunday.

'We are shifting our all focus towards the fake degree scam, as Ashraf Rahi had received serious life threats for leading criminal proceedings against the fraudsters [in legal fraternity],' he said.

DIG Investigations Kamran Adil had been assigned the responsibility of supervising the investigations into the murder case, he said, adding that a police team spent hours in Punjab Safe City Authority office to closely examine the footage of cameras installed in and around the crime scene to identify the two attackers who sped away on a motorbike and trace their movement.

He said the police investigators were hopeful to trace the suspects.

Declaring it a high-profile murder case, other officials said there were strong possibilities that the gun attack had been carried out due to the senior lawyer's active involvement in leading legal proceedings and actions against the 'fake' members of the community.

While requesting anonymity, a police official told Dawn the police held meetings with close relatives of the deceased and some senior representatives and office-bearers of the lawyers'...