Business man safe after shooting

Akhtar Zahid

AN Oldham businessman has survived a Pakistan extortion attempt that left a man shot dead by police.

Akhtar Zahid, from School House Road, off Roundthorn Road, refused to pay a demand for 500,000 rupees — around £33,500.

He and his brothers, Abdul Latif, from Thomas Street, Werneth, and Abdul Rashid, who lives in France, informed the local police in Pakistan.

The police put up around 100,000 rupees, and asked the brothers to make the delivery while they lay in ambush on Monday afternoon, local time.

“There was a chase and one of the two men who were demanding the money was shot dead,” Mr Zahid told the Chronicle from Pakistan.

Mr Ahktar, a former treasurer of the Asian Business Association and owner of A and S Motor Factors in Chadderton, is in his homeland for eight weeks to build a house in his parents’ village.

He said: “The man who demanded the money is a known terrorist in the next village of Manglia.

“As I speak to you we are loading our guns and fitting iron gates to our home because we know they will come for us.

We are expecting the police at any moment to protect us. None of us is prepared to hand over money. I am not prepared to give in to this man.

“I want my friends and family in Oldham to know what is going on and for them to know that my wife, myself and Latif are safe, for now.”


The full version of this story is available in our print and e-Chron editions