KP chief minister vows to retaliate against gun shot, use of baton

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday condemned the police's using force against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members in Rawalpindi a day ago, stating that his party would retaliate against any gun shot, shelling, or use of baton against its supporters.

The fiery PTI leader stated that three of their activists had been shot and injured, and that one of them was missing.

"Shells and bullets were fired every three kilometres on us, injuring over 50 PTI workers," he said.

Gandapur said this after returning to Peshawar as the PTI protest in Rawalpindi was "called off" amid violent clashes between protesters and riot police near Liaquat Bagh.

The Gandapur-led convoy remained stuck at the interchange for several hours due to closure of roads as the authorities had placed containers at Burhan Interchange in an attempt to thwart PTI’s protest.

Addressing the participants, the KP chief executive directed them to return to Peshawar and castigated the government for not granting PTI its “constitutional right”.

Vowing to come back with “all resources”, he regretted that the police fired teargas and rubber bullets at the protesters.

On the other hand, Gandapur said, scores of police officials were caught by the party activists but he rescued them.

“They [police] have set a precedent of firing bullets […] We also have guns,” he stated.

Meanwhile, he saluted the residents of KP and Rawalpindi Division over their support for the former ruling party.

PTI workers demand Gandapur to step down

Gandapur’s announcement to postpone the protest on Saturday drew strong opposition from the protesters as they refused to return and demanded his resignation.

The PTI workers surrounded the KP chief minister’s vehicle and staged a protest against the party leadership at Burhan Interchange.

However, the protest was called off after PTI leader Azam Swati’s intervention.

Speaking to the protesters, the former federal minister said they had cancelled the Rawalpindi protest on Imran Khan’s instructions. “We have to follow his [PTI founder] directives.”

Earlier, the Punjab government had imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in Rawalpindi Division for two days, banning all political gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, protests, and similar activities.

PTI initially planned to hold a public rally at Liaquat Bagh but converted the event into a demonstration on the directives of the former prime minister.

It also withdrew its application seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) to hold a rally from the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Salman Akram Raja were also detained on their way to Rawalpindi near Sector H-13 only to be released shortly.

In a statement issued earlier, the PTI said Gohar and Salman were travelling to Rawalpindi when the police stopped their vehicle near Sector H-13 and took them into custody. “They [law enforcers] took both the leaders away in a van.”

Following his release, the PTI chief — while speaking to Geo News — said that the police asked them to go back “instead of heading to Rawalpindi”.

On the other hand, Rawalpindi police spokesperson said that the city was on “high alert” and police personnel were deployed at the city’s entry and exit points.

The spokesperson reiterated that no illegal public gatherings would be permitted anywhere in the city and warned that strict action would be taken against any violations.

The Imran Khan-founded party, as part of its months-long efforts to secure permission to hold public gatherings, has managed to hold two rallies in Islamabad and Lahore under strict conditions in recent weeks.