Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, an Elite Force man in his security team opened burst on Taseer’s when he was stepping out of his car at Kohistar Market in sector F6 of the capital, just a short distance from where Taseer kept a home.
The governor was immediately rushed to Polyclinic hospital in serious condition, but succumbed to injuries. Medics said he received nine bullets, four in neck, three in chest and two in abdomen.
"The governor fell down and the man who fired at him threw down his gun and raised both hands," said a witness, Ali Imran.
The shooting left blood stains on a parking area on the edge of the Kohsar shopping center, which is popular among foreigners in Islamabad.
Taseer was shot down because of his high-profile opposition to the blasphemy laws, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The governor had addressed a press conference with Aasia Bibi, a Christen woman convicted of blasphemy, and assured her of full support for presidential pardon.
Religious groups have been angry over government plans to change or scrap the law.
Taseer was one of the most moderate political voices in the main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Also, he was outspoken against the Taliban and other militants.
The assassin was a member of Taseer's own security team, who confessed that he killed the governor himself because he had called the blasphemy law a black law," Malik said. Qadri confessed his crime and surrendered his gun to police after the attack, he said.
Taseer’s Life
Taseer was a leading moderate voice in the PPP, which is facing a major political crisis these days.
Taseer made his money as a chartered accountant, setting up consultancy firms and a brokerage house, and with investments in telecommunications, the media, insurance and real estate before going into politics.
He served as minister for industry and production under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf from 2007 to 2008.
He was a long-time member of the Punjab provincial assembly and appointed governor by the PPP-led coalition government in 2008.
Political Turmoil
The killing came as Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani tried to muster support for the government after a key coalition partner, MQM, quit.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has given the government a three-day deadline to accept a list of demands to avert its collapse.
Offering a reprieve, he said PML-N would not force a no-confidence vote in the government.
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