Pakistan police deny Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief’s claim of assassination attempt
In Wazirabad, Pakistan, police denied Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s claim of an alleged attempt on his life. As Dawn reports, law enforcement said that the man detained by Afridi’s security detail as an armed attacker was Constable Muqaddas Ali, who had been assigned to provide security for the official.
On September 16, Afridi released a video statement that he said he had recorded shortly before 5:00 a.m. He claimed that while staying in Sialkot, electricity had been cut off at his places of residence and generators at two houses had been disabled. The politician then traveled to Wazirabad.
Afridi’s version
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister said his security detail had detained a man in civilian clothes who allegedly intended to kill him. According to Afridi, a pistol was seized from the detainee and handed over to the head of the local police station.
In a post on X, the official also said that his security detail had handed the detainee over to Saklain, the head of Wazirabad City Police Station. Afridi added that after he arrived in Wazirabad, electricity was cut off there as well, which, he claimed, prevented him from leaving for another location.
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Police position
Gujranwala police and Wazirabad City Police Station, in separate statements, identified the detainee as Constable Muqaddas Ali. According to their version, he was carrying out an official assignment to provide security for Afridi.
Gujranwala police said members of the provincial chief minister’s security team inflicted physical injuries on the constable. The department said the head of Wazirabad City Police Station was present at the scene, intervened and was able to remove the officer. Police also said Ali’s identity was established at the scene and his service identification was presented.
Trip to Punjab
Sohail Afridi has been in Punjab province since Monday, mobilizing supporters of the PTI party ahead of a nationwide protest scheduled for September 27. Earlier, he claimed that authorities had allegedly abducted him in Lahore and left him by the roadside. The Punjab government denied this, while provincial Information Minister Azma Bukhari released a video showing Afridi entering a police vehicle on his own.
Punjab authorities imposed a ban on gatherings in the province from September 13 to 17. District administrations also issued orders for the preventive detention of dozens of PTI activists under Article 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order law.
