PTI leader Malik Nasir Khan passes away in Bannu

BANNU: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Malik Nasir Khan passed away after protracted illness at a private hospital in Peshawar early Friday.

He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Jan Kala Bazidkhel. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)’s Akram Khan Durrani, the former chief minister now an opposition leader in the Khyber Assembly, former senator Baz Muhammad and a large number people from all walks of life attended his funeral prayers. Malik Nasir Khan had won the provincial assembly seat in Bannu twice on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He had joined the PTI in 2014.

He was unhappy over the denial of the PTI ticket in the October 14 by-election on the NA-35 Bannu seat. Imran Khan has won the seat in the July 25 general election defeating Akram Durrani. Malik Nasir Khan contested the by-election as an independent candidate when the PTI gave the ticket to newcomer Maulana Nasim Ali Khan.

The by-election was won by Akram Durrani’s son Zahid Akram Durrani. Malik Nasir Khan was a member of the Pakistan hockey team in the past and had helped the national team win many matches.