FAISALABAD: A prominent Shia cleric and his driver were gunned down in a drive-by shooting at Raja Wala Road on Tuesday, sources told Daily Times. Sources said that Fazal Hussain Alvi and his driver Qasim Ali were in their car when unidentified motorcyclists ambushed them near Faisalabad’s University of Agriculture boundary wall at Raja Wala Road. Bullets pierced the car’s fuel tank and the vehicle caught fire. “The bodies were completely burnt and beyond identification,” said sources. Alvi’s relatives identified the dead by the vehicle’s number plate, they added. The assailants fled and police reached the spot after half-an-hour. The area was cordoned off. The bodies have been sent for autopsies.Alvi was from Garh Maharaja, Jhang, and had been living here for the past 15 years. He had been banned from public speaking by the government because of the fiery nature of his speeches. Alvi was a prominent Shia cleric and it is necessary to tighten security around all famous religious personalities in the aftermath of the Nishtar Park blast, said a police officer on condition of anonymity. Police stations were put on high alert after the killing and security around imambarghas and mosques tightened. All road access to the Markazi Imambargah Azakhanea Shabbir was blocked.