JIT formed to probe attack on Ahsan Iqbal

LAHORE/NAROWAL: The Punjab government on Monday formed a five-member joint investigation team (JIT) headed by CTD additional IG Rai Tahir to probe the assassination attempt on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

Earlier, the JIT was headed by DIG Investigation Waqas Nazir but within an hour of the notification, Waqas Nazir was replaced with Rai. Other members of the team are RIB SSP Khalid Bashir Cheema, CTD SP Faisal Gulzar Awan and one official each from IB and ISI.

The probing team will visit the crime scene to collect evidence. It will also interrogate the accused person and record statements of eyewitnesses. Earlier in the day, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had ordered the formation of a JIT during a meeting of the provincial cabinet, which condemned the attack on the senior PML-N leader and prayed for his early recovery.

Meanwhile, police in Narowal have arrested Gulfam Masih, the host of the meeting in which Ahsan was attacked, and Azeem Ashraf, a facilitator of Abid Hussain who targeted the interior minister. On the other hand, Ahsan was shifted from the ICU to a private room at the Services Hospital on Monday night.

Services Hospital’s MS Dr Ameer Hussain, talking to The News, said the condition of Ahsan was improving, adding that it had been decided not to remove the bullet from his abdomen. It is pertinent to mention that the bullet piercing the right arm of Ahsan had entered the abdomen in an assassination attempt on him in Narowal on Sunday. On the other hand, an initial investigation report on the failed assassination attempt has revealed startling details of how the main accused, Abid, planned the attack.

The report, obtained by Geo News on Monday, suggests that Abid, 21, planned the attack on the interior minister with careful deliberation. According to the report, Abid told the police that he had a dream in which he received orders to assassinate Ahsan. He wrote down his thoughts in a diary over the past three or four months and that Ahsan was an easy target.

The accused confirmed details of Ahsan’s scheduled arrival at the venue of the corner meeting in Narowal by contacting the organisers of the event. He then got a haircut, dressed up, and called over his neighbour Azeem. Abid reached Kanjrur, the venue of the meeting, on a motorcycle at around 4:30pm. When he got his chance, he fired at the interior minister from close proximity. One of the Elite Force personnel grabbed the assailant as soon as he took out the weapon. He misfired, and the bullet brushed past Ahsan’s shoulder and hit him in the abdomen.

Abid, as per the report, bought the weapon used in the incident from a local Kashif five months ago, after scraping together Rs15,000. Two or three months later, he bought 50 rounds of bullets from a man named Sabeel in exchange for Rs1,800.

Abid is unemployed and has been educated till Matric. In his statement to the police, he said he was impressed by Maulana Ashraf Asif Jalali and Khadim Hussain Rizvi. He spent one and a half month in Dubai in 2016. His father is a labourer.

Earlier in the day, Abid was presented before an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala and handed over to the police on 10-day physical remand. An FIR, including terrorism charges, has already been registered at the Shah Gharib Police Station.

Moreover, the SHO of the Shah Gharib Police Station has been suspended for providing inadequate security to the interior minister. Meanwhile, various political leaders and dignitaries visited the hospital to inquire after him. They included Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal besides federal minister for defence production and DG Rangers.

A PTI delegation led by the party’s secretary information and central spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry also visited the hospital and conveyed well wishes from Imran Khan. They met Ahsan’s son and presented a bouquet on behalf of the party chief. Security remained tight in and around the hospital and even the media were not allowed to enter the hospital.