NEW DELHI, 9 February 2005— Gunmen yesterday shot a Delhi University lecturer in Arabic, S.A.R. Geelani, who was acquitted of charges relating to a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament which pushed India and Pakistan close to war.
A spokesman for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences told reporters that Geelani was brought to the hospital late yesterday with gunshot wounds to his shoulder and stomach.
Geelani’s lawyer Nandita Haksar said her client had undergone “marathon surgery” but that she had not had a chance to meet him so far.
She said Geelani was shot by unidentified gunmen when he had gone to meet her at her home.
“He said he wanted to discuss some legal issues with me and had come to my house. I heard some loud gunshots and then heard him banging on the door. When I came out he was clutching his stomach and said he had been shot,” said Haskar.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted police sources as saying Geelani had been shot five times.
