LAHORE – In what appears to be a heart-wrenching incident in the Punjab capital, a man named Ghaus Gondal took to his social media handle on Saturday to share the story behind the alleged murder of his father during a brawl with employees of an automobile company.
In his video message, the man said his father visited the showroom of the Chinese car maker MG with his driver after the company informed him about delay in delivery of their car.
“The company received the remaining amount, but refused to deliver the vehicle. This irked my father and he scolded the automobile company’s staff for poor customer service and not honouring their promises. We booked the car in February 2021 and it was expected to arrive in July this year,” he said.
“This sparked a heated argument between the two sides. In the meantime, the general manager of the automobile company also jumped into the argument. The argument turned into a brawl and my father’s health deteriorated. As a result, he left the premises,” he said.
He said that as soon as his father got into his car to return home, a group of around 15 people, including the general manager, surrounded his car and didn’t allow him to leave. “My driver, who was accompanying my father, told the charged men about the poor health of my father but to no avail,” he said.
“All of them waited, but didn’t allow my father to leave until he collapsed. Before he collapsed, my father also made a phone call to law enforcers, but they did not turn up. The automobile company’s staff allowed my driver to drive my father away only after he breathed his last,” he said with his eyes full of tears.
The man says that guards of the shopping mall, where the automobile company’s office is located, should also be questioned since they have some videos of the incident.
Towards end of his video message, the grief-stricken man also addressed Pakistani businessmen and the owner of the automobile company, which failed to keep its promises regarding delivery of the vehicle. He said the owner of the company had close contacts with influential people and he could manipulate the situation.
However, the accuser confirmed registration of a case against the company’s staff after the incident and vowed to take all those responsible for the incident to court.
Giving their side of the story, MG General Manager (Marketing) Asif Ahmad said the deceased got infuriated after hearing about a brief delay in delivery of his vehicle and slapped the manager of the MG showroom at the Packages Mall twice. He said he was fleeing after hitting the MG manager when the Packages Mall security stopped him. He however said the security let him go when his driver told them that his health was deteriorating because he didn’t have the inhaler with him.
According to the MG official, the deceased was taken to Ittefaq Hospital by a Rescue 1122 ambulance where doctors said he died from natural causes and not due to any physical torture.
