Quetta, Oct 15 (IANS): Former chief justice of Balochistan High Court (BHC), Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, has been killed in a gun attack in Kharan, media reports said.

Meskanzai was shot dead while offering Isha prayers at a mosque. The Quetta Bar Association has announced three-day mourning and a boycott of the courts, Geo News reported.

"The former chief justice came to offer Isha prayers at a mosque near his residence located in Gazai area of Kharan where unidentified miscreants opened fire at him," Nazir Ahmed Kurd, DIG, Rakhshan Division, told Geo News.

"Being critically injured with gunshot wounds in the abdomen area, he was rushed to the civil hospital for treatment. However, he succumbed to his injuries," the DIG said.

One of his relatives, Mumtaz, was wounded in the attack.

In response, the police cordoned off the area and began a search operation for the attackers.

Meskanzai took oath as the chief justice on December 26, 2014 and retired on August 31, 2018. Later, he was appointed as the chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court and served until 2022.

Both the governor and chief minister of the province have expressed grief at his death.