Panel launches probe into Iqbal’s murder bid, more suspects held
islamabad — An investigation team formed by the Punjab government to probe Sunday’s assassination attempt at country’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal began its work on Tuesday.
The joint investigation team (JIT), comprising members from the police department as well as intelligence agencies, has acquired the mobile phone data of the main suspect Abid Hussain, say media reports. Police have handed over the record of the initial probe to the JIT, Geo News reported.
Iqbal was shot in the arm on Sunday during a rally in his constituency Narowal. Abid was caught immediately by police after he shot at the minister. An initial report on the shooting by the deputy commissioner of Narowal district said the gunman “showed his affiliation” to Tehreek-e-Labaik, a newly-formed hardline party.
Abid had reportedly confessed to the crime, saying he had bought the weapon used in the incident from a local after scraping together Rs15,000.
The record of a telephonic conversation between Abid and rally organiser, Gulfam, has been acquired by the police and handed over to the JIT, sources told.
Abid and Gulfam’s accomplice, Azeem, is also in police custody, sources added.
Police sources claimed the JIT has decided to expand the scope of investigation into the case.
Another 17 suspects have been detained during raids across Narowal in connection with the assassination attempt.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also visited ailing Iqbal at Services Hospital in Lahore.
Meanwhile, a founding member of Tehreek-e-Labaik, Pir Afzal Qadri, said Iqbal and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party had invited trouble by committing blasphemy when they changed an election law in a way some said weakened an oath declaring Mohammad (peace be upon him) the last true prophet. “They have done so much wrong,” Qadri said in a video message. “It is their fault, they themselves are responsible for this. These people are inviting attacks, ” he told Reuters. Iqbal’s shooting has stoked fears of a repeat of the pre-election violence. In November, Labaik blocked a main road into the capital for several days over the small change to the election law. The government explained the change as a clerical error and reversed it.
The minister responsible resigned.Hussain joined the protests determined to “send any blasphemer to hell”, police said in their report. Seven people were killed and 200 wounded when police tried to clear the blockade. Qadri said Iqbal, as interior minister, was responsible for the attack on him as he had ordered the police action. “It is regrettable that the whole world is making hue and cry just because he got one bullet, and not a single arrest has so far been made in the martyrdom of the seven people,” Qadri said. — Agencies