Pakistan police name lone shooter in gun attack on ex-premier Khan

Agencies |Islamabad

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Pakistani police yesterday opened a criminal investigation into a failed assassination attempt on former prime minister Imran Khan and said just one shooter was involved.

Khan, 70, has suggested that there could be two people who shot at him at anti-government rally in the eastern city of Wazirabad last Thursday.

The former cricket star, who has been pressing for early elections since being ousted as premier after losing a parliament vote in April, is recovering from leg wounds at his home in Lahore city.

Police identified the suspect as Mohammad Naveed, man in his 30s.

A copy of the police report, which was seen by Reuters, said a man in the crowd near Khan had taken out a pistol and started shooting, wounding Khan and 10 other people, one of whom later died.

Police said the suspected shooter was arrested after Khan supporter Ibtesam Hasan overpowered him and threw off his aim.

Regional police chief Akhtar Abbas told Reuters that a criminal investigation had been launched after registration of a formal case.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday the suspect was self-motivated.

“The things we got from his cell phone showed that he was fully motivated, fully committed,” he told a news conference.

Reuters journalists last Friday visited the district of Wazirabad where the suspect lived in a dingy house with his widowed mother, wife and two sons - the youngest just two weeks old.

Police confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday this was the same man as the suspect Mohammad Naveed named in the case.

Neighbours said he had this year returned from Saudi Arabia where had worked as plumber for several years.

They described him as a quiet person and that his connection with the attack came as a surprise, although he had shown some signs of religiosity since his return to Pakistan.

“I knew him since his childhood, he had no bad habits, his act just shocked us,” said neighbour Mohammad Saddiq, adding the man lately had preached to him about saying his prayers.

He attended neighbourhood mosque and had recently objected to a music event at a nearby school, asking to ensure music was not played at prayer time.

Khan said in a Tweet on Tuesday the police case was “farcical”.

He has accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and intelligence official Major-General Faisal Nasser and planning to assassinate him.

The government and military have denied this.