Corps Commander House attack: Police take Khadija Shah into custody

LAHORE: Khadija Shah, the prime suspect in the attack on the Lahore Corps Commander House, has been arrested in Lahore, Punjab Police said Tuesday.

Despite her husband and other family members being arrested, the PTI supporter did not surrender herself to the authorities even after claiming that she would present herself before them.

The house was attacked on May 9 when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stormed and burned it down following party chairman Imran Khan's arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

In an over 16 minutes-long audio message released recently, Shah admitted that she was a PTI supporter and was part of the protest outside the Lahore Corps Commander’s House but denied committing any wrongdoing, including inciting people to violence.

Shah is the daughter of Dr Salman Shah who was a member of former president Parvez Musharraf’s finance team and had also served as an adviser in the Punjab government during the Usman Buzdar government.

She is also the granddaughter of a former army chief.

Punjab Interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi had last week announced that the women involved in the May 9 attacks on the military installations would be arrested at all costs.

The army and the federal government have also vowed that all miscreants involved in the attacks on military installations would be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.

Following the attacks, thousands of PTI workers have been rounded up across the country, with several leaders also parting ways with the party over the May 9 mayhem.

'Very tough'

In her voice note released Sunday, Shah said she was going to surrender to the police and admitted her mistake.

Shah acknowledged that she had made "inappropriate" tweets against the military leadership in anger and emotion, but now they have been deleted.

“I am going to surrender to the police. I have taken this decision because the last five days remained very tough for me,” she said.

“They (authorities) barged into my house at midnight and abducted my husband and father. They roughed up my husband in front of our children... my domestic workers were also subjected to torture,” she claimed.

The PTI supporter went on to say she did not violate any law or the country's Constitution, adding that she had participated in many PTI protests during the past year.

She also disclosed that she was a dual citizen and trying to get help from the embassy but did not elaborate further in this regard.