Pakistan: Imran Khan shot at during rally, suffers minor injury
What's the story
In what was speculated to be an assassination attempt, shots were fired at Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a rally in Gujranwala of Punjab province on Thursday, local media reported. He has reportedly sustained injuries on his leg but is safe. His right leg was seen bandaged when he was taken to the hospital in an SUV amid a frenzy.
Information
One person has been detained
Several others were reported injured in the incident. One of the accused has been detained. Khan has been on road for the last six months rallying for an early election. He had earlier declared that he would march to the capital Islamabad to push for his demands. The incident brought back memories of how ex-PM Benazir Bhutto was shot dead during a 2007 rally.
Twitter Post
An alleged shooter was captured on video
Arrest him and keep him in the custody of KP police for the investigation. pic.twitter.com/n3ghQFdw6I
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) November 3, 2022
Details
He requested people from around the city to accompany him
The alleged attacker shot at Khan from the ground when he was standing on a container truck addressing the crowd. The incident took place around 200 km from Islamabad. Around an hour before the incident, while in a different part of Gujranwala, he requested people to accompany him to the site where he was scheduled to deliver a speech.
Turn of events
Attacker couldn't get close due to tight crowd
He reached the site and got down from his black SUV to climb on the container, a video tweeted by his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) showed. He approached the container's roof to deliver his speech. The attacker shot from a pistol from his left side but couldn't manage to reach too close due to the dense crowd, as per Geo News.
Twitter Post
Closely keeping an eye, says India
#WATCH | "It's a development that just took place. We're closely keeping an eye on and we'll continue to monitor ongoing developments," says MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on firing on former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's rally in Wazirabad, Pakistan wherein he too is injured pic.twitter.com/yx5G5f7D9b
— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2022
Background
Ousted 9 months ago, Khan has been demanding Sharif's resignation
He was ousted from power nine months ago following a no-confidence motion in the parliament. Since then, he has been rallying gathering people's support, and demanding PM Sharif's resignation. Recently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him from holding public office for the next five years on charges of concealing income received from selling state gifts, commonly called the Toshakhana case.