RAWALPINDI – A journalist was shot dead by unidentified assailants inRawalpindi, according to a media report.

Anjum Muneer Raja, 40, was returning home on a motorcycle late on Thursdaywhen the bike-borne attackers waylaid him and opened fire, the police said.

The incident occurred on the Bank Road, minutes away from the Pakistanimilitary’s national headquarters, the *Dawn News *reported.

Raja was shot six times in the head, neck and torso, killing him instantly,the report said, adding the attackers then fled.

Raja was father to a five-year-old boy and used to teach at a school in themornings and worked as a sub-editor for a Islamabad-based Urdu newspaper inthe evenings, his uncle Tariq Mehmood said.

Mr. Mehmood said his nephew did not have personal enmity with anyone andexpressed shock over the killing, according to the report.

The journalist community condemned Raja’s murder and demanded immediatearrest of the attackers.

They also demanded protection for all journalists and threatened protestsif Raja’s killers were not arrested soon. Last year, prominent reporterAhmed Noorani was also savagely beaten and stabbed in the head after beingdragged out of his car in Islamabad by armed assailants.