DHAKA: Pakistan has hanged the former police bodyguard who shot dead Punjab's governor over his opposition to blasphemy laws.

Officials say, reports the BBC.

Mumtaz Qadri killed Salman Taseer in Islamabad in 2011, a high profile murder that shocked the country.

He was hailed as a hero by some Islamist groups, and thousands of hard-line activists protested to show their support for Qadri at the time.

After news of his execution, crowds again took to the streets in protest.

Security forces have been put on high alert and a heavy police presence, including riot police, are in place in the area around Qadri’s home in Islamabad, the media reports.

Prison officials said Qadri was executed at 04:30 local time (23:30 GMT) at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad.

Qadri, who had trained as an elite police commando and was assigned to Taseer as his bodyguard, shot the politician in broad daylight at an Islamabad market in January 2011. He was sentenced to death later that year.

He claimed it was his religious duty to kill the minister, who was an outspoken critic of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and supported liberal reforms.

BDST: 1247 HRS, FEB 29, 2016
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