Abdul Salam Soomro, the cameraman of a local Sindhi TV channel who captured the on-spot footage of Rangers killing Sarfaraz Shah, has been receiving life threats from an “unknown number”. In protest against this harassment, journalists staged a token walkout from the press gallery of the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.
According to Soomro, he had received a phone call from an unknown number at 9:47am on Thursday. He said that a person on other side referred to the incident and said, “You have not done well. Now take care of yourself.”
Sindh Information Minister, Sharjeel Memon later visited Soomro and the protesting journalists at the press room of the Assembly, and assured all that the government will make appropriate arrangements for his security.Earlier, while speaking in the house, Memon said that the Rangers director-general has also assured the government of holding ab impartial enquiry into the incident. He said that TV footage shows the person killed in the incident had continuously been seeking help to shift him to the hospital but nobody took him.
Lawmakers from the PPP and PML-F protested the incident, with the latter’s Ghulam Qadir Chandio demanding of Speaker Nisar Khuhro to refer the incident to the Standing Committee on Home for investigation. Sindh Power Minister Shazia Marri regretted that political parties had always supported the Rangers stay in Sindh for security but they are killing people instead. Marvi Rashdi of the PML-F said that it was regretted that Sharjeel Memon was defending the Rangers by saying that all the personnel seen in footage were not responsible for killing of the citizen.