LAHORE - A 35-year-old government employee yesterday ended his life by hanging himself with the ceiling fan at his office in Old Anarkali.

Police said Muhammad Shafique was working as a naib qasid at the Punjab Agriculture Department. His brother told the police that Shafique lost the whole salary of this month while betting on the T20 cricket match played between Pakistan and Bangladesh Wednesday evening.

“Shafique was very upset since Pakistan lost the (crucial) match against Bangladesh. He lost the whole salary of this month while betting on the cricket match,” his younger brother said.

According to his family, he also attempted suicide two years ago. Shafique reached his office in the morning. Hours later, he went to an office room, locked it from inside, and committed suicide. “The body was hanging from the ceiling fan with a rope tied to his neck as we reached the spot,” a police investigator said.

An official contacted the police by phone after he witnessed the body of his colleague from a window. Cops entered the room by breaking open the door and removed the body. An official of the agriculture department told reporters yesterday Shafique had been facing severe financial constraints. The body was moved to the morgue while further investigations were underway.

VENDOR MURDERED

A 45-year-old vendor was shot dead by two gunmen in Iqbal Town yesterday morning.

Investigators identified the victim as Ashraf alias Ashiq. The body was moved to the morgue for an autopsy.

Police said Ashiq was selling breakfast meal at a roadside stall in Rachna Block of Iqbal Town when two motorcyclists appeared there in the morning. They opened straight fire on the vendor with a pistol and fled instantly. The father of four, Ashiq sustained a bullet in the head and died on the spot. Initial police investigations revealed the man was gunned down by his rivals over an old enmity. The police have registered a murder case against unidentified killers and are investigating the incident.

MINOR CRUSHED UNDER CAR

A three-year-old girl was crushed to death under a car in Badami Bagh yesterday.

Police said Mehrab was travelling in an auto-rickshaw along with her mother. All of a sudden, she fell on the road from the moving auto-rickshaw, run over by a car and died on the spot. The police arrested the car driver and started investigations.