On September 21, 2012, a driver for ARY News, Muhammad Aamir Liaquat, was killed in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when police opened fire on demonstrators staging a violence protest outside a cinema against the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video.

Pakistan Press Foundation pays tribute to the work of Liaquat as a frontline media worker.

Liaquat received a bullet in his chest when he was trying to reach the place where police were targeting protesters with live rounds to protect a cinema Three rounds hit the vehicle and one of them struck Liaquat. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the Faqeerabad Police Station in the city but no one was arrested and the case was closed.

Recalling the incident, ARY News Peshawar Bureau Chief Zia ul Haq told PPF that the ARY DSNG van along with reporters and crew went to cover the protest outside the cinema, about a kilometre away from the network’s office.

Haq said that Liaquat, who was associated with ARY News since 2007, had sustained serious injuries in the crossfire between the police and protestors.

Liaquat’s cousin Zubair said that the slain journalist had been the sole breadwinner of his family leaving behind a widow and three sons, one of whom was only a week old at the time of his father’s death. Zubair said that the network had provided them with compensation at the time of the incident and still pay his monthly salary to his wife.