Riaz Basra was a Pakistani militant leader, who in 1996 founded the militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi alongside Malik Ishaq and Akram Lahori.
13 Facts About Riaz Basra
1.
2.
Riaz Basra was born to Ghulam Muhammad and Jalal Bibi in Chak Chah Thandiwala, Sargodha, in 1967.
3.
Riaz Basra studied at madrassas in Lahore and Sargodha before joining the Sunni religious-political party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan in 1985.
4.
Riaz Basra was alleged to be involved in the killing of hundreds of Shias in Pakistan, including the assassination of Shia doctors, policemen, lawyers, Iranian diplomat Sadeq Ganji in 1990 and of Shia leader Syed Sikandar Shah, and a deadly attack on a gathering at a Shia cemetery in 1998, as well as an assassination attempt on Nawaz Sharif in 1999, besides being accused of several bank heists.
5.
Riaz Basra was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to death for killing Ganji, but escaped from prison in 1994.
6.
Riaz Basra was alleged to be involved in several other assassinations such as the assassinations of the leader of Imamia Students Organization, Dr Muhammad Ali Naqvi in 1995, Sargodha commissioner Syed Tajammal Abbas in 1996, and Gujranwala SSP Muhammad Ashraf Marth in 1997.
7.
In 1996, Riaz Basra broke away from Sipah-e-Sahaba to form his own anti-Shia organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
8.
On one occasion, Riaz Basra is believed to have coerced the Punjab Chief Minister into easing police pressure on his group.
9.
Riaz Basra had demonstrated his ability to penetrate the CM's security by having himself photographed with the CM without his knowledge.
10.
Riaz Basra had a bounty of 5 million rupees on his head and he was eventually killed, reportedly in a shootout in May 2002, in Kot Choudhary Sher Muhammad Ghalvi, Dokota, a Shia village in Vehari district, Punjab.
11.
Doubts have been expressed about this version of events because Riaz Basra was reported to be in police custody at the time of this shootout and hardly anyone believes this account to be true.
12.
Riaz Basra was buried in his home village of Khurhseed, near Jhawarian outside of Sargodha.
13.
Riaz Basra's funeral was attended by 20,000 people; though police presence prevented the SSP, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leadership and thousands of people from participating, and Basra's body was wrapped in the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi flag.