A female provincial minister yesterday was shot dead by a suspected "religious fanatic" in eastern Pakistani city of Gujranwala while attending a party open meeting, local media reported.

An attacker, termed by police as "religious fanatic," came out of the crowd of people and fired bullets in the head and shoulder of Pakistan's Punjab Provincial Minister for Social Welfare Zil-e-Huma Usman, when she was about to address an open meeting of Pakistan Muslim League activists, according to the state-run Pakistan Television and private Geo Television.

Usman succumbed to injuries during a surgery operation after being air-shifted to a hospital in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab.

The man, later identified as Ghulam Sarwar, has been arrested by police and shifted to an undisclosed site for questioning.

There is no confirmed information about the motive behind the attack. But the attacker, according to reports quoting police, had been held three years ago by authorities in connection with the murder of 12 call girls in Lahore but was later released because of lack of evidence.