PTI leader and Member of National Assembly Alamgir Khan said that his security guard was mistakenly arrested on suspicion.

Speaking exclusively on Aaj News programme “Faisla Aap Ka” with host Asma Shirazi, the PTI MNA said that the incident happened four or five minutes before he along with the party leaders reached Wazirabad from Karachi to join the march, adding that he was accompanied by a guard of a private company.

Due to the rush of the crowd, he [guard] was left behind and after the incident people ambushed him and he was also named in the attack by the police, the PTI leader said.

Earlier in a video statement, Alamgir said that a guard came with him from Karachi and stayed behind after the firing incident at the container. He said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah should restrain from spreading lies.

He said people mistakenly caught his guard on suspicion and the police took him away.

“Rana Sanaullah or anyone who is blaming innocent people for this incident is totally wrong,” he added.

‘Imran Khan was the target’

Aaj News Lahore Bureau Chief Saleem Sheikh said that the target of the assailant was Imran Khan, adding that the assailant fired a burst of bullets.

“We were on the roof of the DSNG when suddenly shots were fired and we all sat down,” Sheikh added.

He said that the shooter had targeted Imran Khan, adding that since the march started from Lahore SOP had been followed.

“As per SOPs all party workers and PTI’s own security guards would be in front of Imran Khan’s container,” he said adding that there was a contingent of police walking alongside Imran Khan’s container and police personnel were deployed over the top of buildings on both sides of the road.

“When the caravan left Lahore, Imran Khan used to address at night as well, but then due to security reasons, Imran Khan used to come down from the container at sunset.”

“The government in Punjab belongs to them, Why are they blaming us

Speaking about the investigation into the firing incident on Aaj News , Federal Minister Khurram Dastgir said in this regard that the real fact is that the police and administration in Punjab belong to Imran Khan, the interior minister of Punjab is also from PTI.

He said that we have assured all kinds of assistance to the Punjab government, but the Chief Minister of Punjab had not formed any inquiry or investigation committee yet.

“The government in Punjab belongs to them, they are blaming us,” Dastgir said.

He said that there should not be violence in politics, PTI started making accusations against the prime minister and the interior minister without investigation.

One alleged attacker had been shot dead and a second was taken into police custody, an international news agency quoted former prime minister Imran Khan’s senior aide Rauf Hassan as claiming.

Chaotic scenes broke out during the Azadi March after gunshots were fired at Imran Khan’s container in Wazirabad, with the PTI chief shot in the leg. At least one person was killed while nine others, including Senator Faisal Javed and PTI Punjab leader Ahmed Chattha, were injured in the attack.

The police immediately arrested one of the assailants from the spot, whose confessional video statement has also been released, in which he said that he was alone and had no companion.

“This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” Hasan told AFP, adding that one alleged attacker had been shot dead and a second was taken into police custody.

He told the agency that it was not clear who shot the attacker first. The assailant, whom the police arrested, was on the right side of the container and fired the burst from there, immediately after which Imran Khan and others on the container sat down.

Another video of the same incident is also being shared on social media with claims that a guard fired a shot from the container as well.

In the video, the sound of the burst was immediately followed by two more gunshots.

So far there have been reports of one person being killed in this incident, who has been identified as Muazzam Gondal.

An eyewitness has claimed that Muazzam was shot dead by security personnel.

According to Muazzam’s family, he was a supporter of PTI.

PTI secretary general Asad Umar said that the former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan suspected three people behind the assassination attempt on him.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a senior military officer are behind the assassination attempt,” Umar said in a video statement alongside party leader Mian Aslam Iqbal.

Umar warned of countrywide protests if the suspected three people were not removed from office.

“Imran Khan has said that he had the information beforehand that these people might be involved in the assassination attempt on him,” Asad said.

He said that Imran Khan was in stable condition in the hospital after being shot in the leg, adding that the PTI chief would make the nationwide call.

Mian Aslam Iqbal said that they were registering an FIR against three persons. “We are waiting for the next call from Khan Sahib,” he added.

Former information minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ will continue to move forward, adding that the movement for the rights of people would continue unless the coalition government did not announce the general elections.

“Meeting of the senior leadership has been convened in Lahore tomorrow,” the PTI leader said in a tweet.

He also informed that PTI Chairperson Imran Khan was in the operation theatre.

“May Allah Almighty protect him,” he added.

WAZIRABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has ordered the suspension of the station house officer along with the entire staff of the Saddar police station, Wazirabad, where the suspected assassin’s video statement was recorded and then later leaked to the media.

Mobile phones of the station staff have been seized for forensic audit, the chief executive said in a statment, adding that the Punjab police chief Faisal Shahkar has been tasked with identifying and taking disciplinary action against the officials repsonsible for this breach.

The chief minister issued the directives during an emergency meeting to review the firing incident and the overall security situation in light of the assassination attempt.

The Punjab inspector general, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan, MPA Hafiz Amar Yasir, Shafqat Mahmood Akhtar Malik, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the Lahore Division commissioner, the Lahore CCPO and concerned officials attended the meeting.

Political leaders strongly condemned the firing incident during the ‘Azadi March’ which left PTI chairperson Imran Khan with a bullet injury to his right leg.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident.

“I condemn the firing on Imran Khan and his associates and pray for the recovery of the injured,” the PML-N supremo said in a tweet.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the firing incident saying that he had directed the interior minister to initiate an investigation into the incident.

The premier said that the federal government would extend all support necessary to the Punjab government in terms of security and investigation. “Violence should have no place in our country’s politics,” the premier added.

Taking to Twitter, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that a high-level investigation should be initiated into the firing incident.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also took to Twitter to condemn the incident and prayed for the recovery of the injured.

“I condemn the firing on Imran Khan and pray to Allah Almighty for the health of all the injured, including Khan.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemned the attack on the PTI chief and prayed for his speedy recovery.

“Praying for his swift recovery,” he said in his tweet.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker Ibtisam, who trapped the armed person on Thursday said that no one will be allowed to hurt former prime minister and PTI Chairperson Imran Khan.

“The accused opened fire at the container. When I trapped the accused, one person already received the bullet,” the PTI worker said in a statement to the media.

Ibtisam said that he was walking on foot from the bypass. “When I saw a man carrying a gun. I sped up and caught him,” he said adding that the assailant fired a burst of bullets from an automatic weapon. “His aim went down after I grabbed his hand.”

“Doesn’t matter if anything happened to me, but will not allow anyone to hurt Imran Khan.”

Ibtisam also offered his prayers for the speedy recovery of Imran Khan.

According to the video of the incident, Ibtisam held his gun and pushed it to the other side as soon as the man started firing straight towards the PTI officials, preventing the attempted assassination.

The attacker was detained by the authorities after the incident and sent to an unidentified location for an investigation.

Dr Faisal Sultan, the head of the four-member medical committee at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in Lahore responsible for Imran Khan’s treatment, said Thursday the PTI leader was doing fine following an assassination attempt that left him injured.

“Bullet fragments injured Imran Khan’s right leg,” the doctor told reporters.

“He has been taken to the operation theatre,” said Dr Faisal Sultan, who headed the government’s response to Covid-19 during the PTI government. He added that a CT scan and MRI was conducted, with treatment to begin once the tests results come in.

“The bullet fragment has chipped his tibia. Doctors will make a detailed statement later,” he added.

The firing incident that took place in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march was strongly condemnable, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier PTI Chairperson Imran Khan was shot in the leg when shots were fired at his container in Wazirabad during the ‘Azadi March’.

He sustained bullet injuries and according to the police, the suspect who opened fire on Imran Khan’s container has been arrested.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), while condemning the incident, said that they pray for the speedy recovery of the PTI chief and other injured.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers have started protesting in various cities across the country against the firing at Imran Khan’s container in Waziriabad, which they termed an assassination attempt.

Traffic was blocked on GT Road due to the protest in Gujarat, while the workers are chanting slogans against the coalition government, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari.

Karachi

PTI workers have started protests at Five Star Chowrangi and Hub River Road due to which traffic has been suspended. A handful of PTI supporters tried to block the Shahra-e-Faisal thoroughfare near the Insaf House, disrupting traffic before being asked to leave by police.

Rawalpindi

The party workers are staging a sit-in at Murree Road against the suspected assassination attempt. PTI workers blocked the roads with burning tires.

Lahore

PTI Lahore has directed the workers to reach Liberty Chowk to stage a protest against the alleged assassination attempt on Imran Khan.

Workers have blocked the highway at Shahdara Chowk with burning tires.

Faisalabad

Workers are staging protests at Faislabad’s clock tower and surrounding markets have been closed.

Several roads in the city including the Rangpura area of ​​Sialkot were blocked.

In Quetta, PTI workers started reaching the secretariat. Protesters also blocked Airport Road.

The prime suspect in the assassination attempt on Imran Khan during the Azadi March in Wazirabad Thursday said that he was only targeting the PTI leader.

“Imran Khan is misleading people. I only tried to kill Imran Khan,” he can be heard saying in a video statement - given to the police - which is circulating on socia media.

In it, he said that during the march, music was playing on sound systems while the call to prayer was going on. “My conscience didn’t find this acceptable.”

He said that Imran Khan was his only target. “I tried to shoot him so that he dies. I wanted to kill only Imran and no one else.”

He later said that he took the decision to shoot Imran Khan as soon as the PTI protest march began from Lahore on Friday, October 28.

He went on to say that he was a lone gunman and not working with anyone else. “I came here on my motorbike, which I parked at my uncle’s showroom nearby.”

New details have emerged about one of the casualties of the attempted assassination on Imran Khan.

An eyewitness has claimed that Moazzam, who was in the crowd when he died, was shot by security officials.

Shahid Afzaal Ahmad told Aaj News that security officials fired in retaliation to the shooting. As a result Moazzam, who was sitting outside a property dealer’s office, was killed on the spot. However, these claims could not be verified by another source.

Moazzam worked in Kuwait and had come home for vacations.

The assassination was attempted as the long march made its way through Wazirabad. Ex-PM Imran Khan was also injured in the shooting and was shifted to Lahore.

PTI leader Fawad Chauhdry said the attempt on Imran Khan’s life was planned in advance, while also disputing the claim that the assassin was armed with a pistol. “It was not [fired from] a 9mm but a burst from a an automatic weapon,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Senator Ejaz Chaudhry said that they had informed authorities concerned about the impending attack but no action was taken.

“Last night, I called Ahmed Chattha from Lahore and told him about the conspiracy. I told him that there would be an assassination attack on Khan at Wazir Abad Chowk. A plan is already in place,” he said.

He added that Chattha, who was shot in the stomach during the assassination attempt, had conveyed the details of the threat to the regional police officer but they failed to make adequate arrangements for the safety of the PTI marchers.

Meanwhile, Asad Umar tweeted that the attack was a cowardly attempt to stop Imran from reaching his destination.

“When they could not stop him, the cowards tried to kill him,” he tweeted.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed labelled the attack on Imran Khan an attack on the security and democracy of Pakistan. “It is a conspiracy to trigger civil war in the country,” the veteran politician said in a video message in the aftermath of the assassination attempt targeting the PTI chief during the Azadi March in Wazirabad Thursday.

“This is an attack on Pakistan’s democracy,” said Rashid.

He said that the country’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah had already suggested that there would be bloodshed during the march. He urged PTI supporters not to take the law in their own hands while assuring people of justice. “They will not be allowed to run away. They will be face the law.”

Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called the firing incident an attempt to give the impression that the PTI protest march was a threat to security.

The police have arrested the person who fired shots at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan’s container in Wazirabad.

An unidentified person fired a burst of bullets from an automatic weapon at Imran Khan’s container. As a result, senior PTI leaders including Imran Khan were injured.

When the arrested suspect opened fire, a man tried to grab his gun from behind but failed. Soon after the shooting, a stampede broke out.

Amid the chaos from that resulted from the attempted assassination on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s container, news channels showed footage of a citizen confronting the shooter, presumably thwarting his plans.

Videos showed a young man grappling with the shooter, forcing him to raise the gun in the air. The shooter struggled to get free as people around them fled the scene.

Later videos also showed him being lifted in celebration by PTI workers.

Four people including Imran Khan were injured in the attack as the long march reached Wazirabad.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Asad Umar said that the ongoing political crisis cannot be solved without the involvement of the Supreme Court and the army. He was speaking in Muhammad Mallick’s current affairs show on Hum News on Wednesday night.

Answering a question about whether the ultimate solution would come through the institutions, Umar said the PTI’s principled position was that both the top court and the armed forces should have no political role whatsoever.

However, he frankly admitted that the current crisis could not possibly be solved without the institutions.

The PTI started its long march on Friday from Lahore. Addressing big crowds along the Grand Turk (GT) Road, party head Imran Khan has repeatedly said that the march’s objective is to force the incumbent coalition government to announce early elections in the country. The former prime minister, who was ousted in April, has repeatedly attacked what he calls an ‘imported government’.

However, since the DG ISI Lt. General Iftikhar Anjum appeared in a press conference a few days before the march began, Khan’s language for the army has acquired a serious undertone. The government has accused the PTI chief of ‘attacking state institutions’. PML-N leaders, including Maryam Nawaz, have suggested the real aim of the march is to get a favorable army chief appointed.

While the debate around the role of the judiciary and military in politics has intensified, the PTI continues to tiptoe around the issue. Umar seemed to continue this stance as he split his answer on the institutions’ role into short-term and long-term periods.

“The practical reality is that these two institutions are the ones who will take you out of this crisis, so they will have to play their role at this time,” he told Mallick.

However, he did add that the sphere of influence for both institutions had expanded way too much. “As part of our forward progress,” he said, “the institutions will have to go back to their constitutional role.”

Imran Khan survived an attempted assassination during the Azadi March Thursday, with the PTI chief shot in the leg when shots were fired at his container in Wazirabad. At least one person was killed while several others, including Senator Faisal Javed and PTI Punjab leader Ahmed Chattha, were injured in the attack.

Following the gunshots, panic spread among protesters. Later, Hammad Azhar, who was also injured during the incident, tweeted the names of injured PTI workers. “Faisal Javed had a close call with the bullet scratching his cheek. He is stable.”

Party leader Umar Sarfraz Cheema and Ejaz Chaudhry said that Imran Khan was shot in the leg.Imran Ismail, who was also injured in the attack, said that Chattha was shot in the stomach.

Imran Khan was shifted to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in a private vehicle, where he received treatment.

At least one person has been arrested, with social media lauding the young man who tackled the shooter.

An image shared on social media claimed that the shooter had been identified.

Punjab police chief Faisal Shahkar has directed the Gujrat district police officer to reach the spot and sought a report of the incident from the regional police officer.

The Islamabad administration offered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf permission to protest in Islamabad on November 4 in exchange for accepting 39 conditions on Thursday.

The PTI’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ hit the roads last Friday from Lahore and has slowly progressed towards its eventual destination Islamabad. It is set to resume its progress on day 7 from Wazirabad.

Meanwhile, PTI’s leaders in Islamabad have been waiting to get permission from the district administration to hold a protest.

Now the local authorities have offered the PTI a spot near T-Chowk in Rawat, at the very edge of Islamabad, to hold their protest. Authorities further said that the permission will be offered only for one day.

The PTI had requested the administration to be allowed to protest at a site between G-9 and H-9 in Islamabad. However, the authorities said that this would result in complete blockage of the Srinagar Highway, one of the capital’s main arteries. The location offered by the administration would ensure that the basic right of movement of citizens will not be affected, the authorities said.

The party will also be required to identify 12 people who will be on stage during the protest. The use of loudspeakers and burning of other parties’ flags will be prohibited.

Bringing weapons into the protest venue or making ‘anti-state, anti-state or anti-ideology of Pakistan’ speeches would not be allowed.

The affidavit also asks the PTI chief to take responsibility to ensure that protesters stay confined to the specified venue. Imran would also be declared responsible for any casualties that might occur during the protest.

The affidavit will require Imran Khan’s signature for permission to be formally granted. Party leaders have not outlined an exact date for the march’s arrival in Islamabad, leader Fawad Chaudhry even said that they want to keep the government guessing about the march’s arrival.

Banners appeared overnight in Rawalpindi against the PTI’s long march before its arrival in the city. The banners are attributed to the civil society in the city against the protest and sit-ins planned by Imran Khan’s party.

The banners, put up on key thoroughfares including the Muree Road, called daily shutdowns an obstacle that was having an adverse impact on people’s lives. From businesses to schools, everything has been affected, it said.

Another banner called for an end to the protests and sit-ins, calling such processions the biggest obstacle in the way of the country’s development.

PTI’s Haqeeqi Azadi March is in Wazirabad and will travel a short distance within the city on Friday (today). PTI Chairman Imran Khan will address the march at three different locations before ending the day’s rallying, according to PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry.

The Azad March has now effectively turned into a new form of protest demonstrations or public gatherings where people gather at designated hours and then disperse. Most of the participants are local supporters of the party.

The march differs from previous marches where political workers traveled long distances with their leaders, staying in the open overnight and then resuming the journey the next day.

Today’s march will begin at Kot Khizra with Imran Khan addressing the gathering and then delivering another address at the Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Chowk.

Khan has already left from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore for Waziriabad, Aaj News Lahore bureau reported.

The PTI chief will deliver his second address of the day at Old Kachehri Chowk Wazirabad.