Ambush-style attack raises alarming questions about law and order on the Lahore-Muridke corridor
By MediaBites Newsdesk
MURIDKE: In what is fast becoming a pattern of targeted killings on one of Punjab’s busiest arterial roads, unknown armed motorcyclists ambushed and killed a senior WAPDA-LESCO official on GT Road in Muridke late at night, sparking outrage over the complete collapse of law and order on this stretch of highway.
The victim, Malik Rab Yar Phulrawan, Executive Engineer (XEN) of LESCO’s Muridke Division, was traveling in his official vehicle from Muridke towards Lahore when a group of motorcycle-riding assailants, who had reportedly positioned themselves in ambush along the route, opened indiscriminate fire on his car. Malik Rab Yar sustained multiple bullet wounds and died on the spot inside his vehicle. The attackers fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
Who Was Malik Rab Yar?
Malik Rab Yar Phulrawan was a serving Executive Engineer with LESCO, the Lahore Electric Supply Company under WAPDA, and had been posted in Muridke Division for the past two years. Colleagues describe him as an active, enforcement-minded officer who took a hard line on electricity theft and ran aggressive recovery campaigns against defaulters in his jurisdiction. He hailed from Okara. His proactive stance against power theft is now being examined by investigators as a possible motive for the attack.
The Same Road. The Same Method. Again.
What makes this murder particularly chilling is that it is not the first of its kind on this very route. Just days ago, a prominent businessman traveling from Muridke to Lahore was shot dead in his car in a near-identical attack on the same road. Gunmen on motorcycles. Indiscriminate firing. A targeted vehicle. A dead man inside it. Attackers vanished.
Two high-profile murders. Same corridor. Same method. Within days of each other.
The question being asked loudly across Punjab is: has this stretch of GT Road become a no-go zone? A killing field operating in plain sight?
Police Response: Too Little, Too Late
Muridke police arrived at the scene in strength after receiving information about the attack. Officers cordoned off the area, collected evidence, and transferred the body to the hospital for post-mortem. A case has been registered, and investigations have been launched from multiple angles, according to police officials.
But a police statement after the fact is cold comfort when the same road has claimed two lives in the same fashion within the same week.
Where Is the Government?
This newspaper asks directly: where is the Punjab government? What is the Chief Minister of Punjab’s stance on the security lapse on a major highway connecting Muridke to Lahore? Two targeted killings in rapid succession demand more than investigations. They demand accountability, a visible security response, and answers.
An Executive Engineer of a federal utility, traveling on a public road at night in his official vehicle, should not be ambushed and killed. A businessman should not be gunned down on his daily commute. The people in this corridor deserve to know whether the state still controls this road.
At the time of filing, no arrests have been made in either case.
MediaBites.com.pk | Lahore
