LAHORE: Pakistan’s anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted three suspects for their involvement in a gun attack on jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest in Punjab province in 2022.
The main defendant, Naveed Mehul, is said to have been involved in firing on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder in November 2022, with accomplices Waqas and Tayyab providing the weapons. Ru.
One PTI worker was killed and 14 others, including Khan, were injured in the shooting in Wazirabad area, about 150 km from Lahore. The area was the site of the party’s “Haqiqi Azadi” (True Freedom) march against the then federal government led by Shehbaz Sharif. Stopped in on the way to Islamabad.
Khan, 71, was reportedly shot three times in the leg. The main suspect, Mair, who was in possession of a gun, was overwhelmed by PTI personnel at the crime scene.
“Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Gujranwala on Tuesday held hearing of Imran Khan attack case charged against three suspects. The suspects, who were present in court, pleaded not guilty,” a court official said. P.T.I. After the hearing.
The official said Mehr opened fire on a container in which Khan was boarded with other PTI leaders, according to the indictment. A bullet hit Khan in the leg. The remaining two suspects, Waqas and Tayyab, had provided weapons to Mair. The court adjourned the hearing until May 25.
Khan called the attack a “planned assassination attempt” and named then-Major General Faisal Nasir, head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as the mastermind behind the attack. He also accused Nasir of killing Pakistani television anchor Arshad Sharif in Kenya.
Khan had also named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and then Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah as co-conspirators in the assassination plot.
“There were two or three people behind the plot to assassinate me. I know that the country’s armed forces are making sacrifices for the country, but there are bad actors in every organization,” Khan said. said.
Mr Khan has been held in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala prison since August last year in several cases.
The Punjab Police investigation into the incident claimed that apart from the main suspect, Mehr, firing a gun from the ground, “three unknown shooters” fired from a considerable height.
issued May 21, 2024, 14:44 IST
