Pakistan's top movie star Sultan Rahi and his friend Haji Hasan Ali were shot dead on 9 January 1996 by two gunmen as they stopped their car to replace a punctured tire near the Punjab city of Gujranwala, 200 kilometres from Islamabad, on their way to Lahore (AFP 9 Jan. 1996; AFP 7 Mar. 1997; Asiaweek 19 Jan. 2000; Time 22 Jan. 1996). The gunmen opened fire as their victims showed resistance to being robbed (AFP 9 Jan. 1996). A 7 March 1996 AFP report states that one of Sultan Rahi's suspected murderers Saju Kana, also wanted for several robberies and murders, was killed by police near his native village, in the vicinity of Gujranwala, in March 1997.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 7 March 1997. "Notorious Bandit Killed in Clash with Pakistani Police : Report." (NEXIS)

_____. 9 January 1996. "Lahore, Pakistan: Pakistan's Top Movie Star, Sultan Rahi, Was Shot Dead by Two Gunmen..." (NEXIS)

Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 19 January 1996. "Killed." http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/0119/featl.html [Accessed 9 November 2000]

Time [New York]. 22 January 1996. "Milestones." (NEXIS)