Prisoner vans carrying PTI leaders ambushed in capital

ISLAMABAD: In an ambush on Friday, unidentified gunmen attacked three prison vans carrying 82 detainees, including Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), at the Sangjani Toll Plaza, creating chaos and allowing several prisoners to escape, police sources said.

Four alleged attackers, including a son of an MPA from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been arrested and shifted to unknown place for investigation, police said. Three MPAs were among those who were being transported to Attock Jail after producing before the court of law, they added.

Eyewitnesses reported that the gunmen swiftly launched their assault, creating panic among law enforcement officials and prisoners alike. Following the incident, security forces initiated an extensive search operation to locate the escapees and apprehend those allegedly responsible for the attack.

Some of the prisoners had escaped during shooting but the police arrested them, failing their attempt to escape, Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP) claimed, while talking to the media. The prisoners, who were detained during recent protests at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, were en route to Attock Jail after court appearances. Among the high-profile detainees were MPAs Anwar Zeb, Liaquat, and Yasir Qureshi, along with government officials and police officers.

“Armed assailants, seemingly lying in wait, opened fire as the prison vans reached Sangjani,” a police official stated. The attackers targeted the vans’ tyres, forcing the vehicles to stop, while some police officers sustained injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals.

Following the attack, law enforcement swiftly mobilised reinforcements to secure the area and initiate a manhunt. Authorities report that while several prisoners were quickly recaptured, including the son of an MPA, others remain unaccounted for and are suspected to have been aided by the attackers in their escape.

A police source dealing with the case, claimed that the assailants, numbering about 20, were heavily armed and executed a planned assault to free individuals facing terrorism charges linked to recent PTI-led protests. “This was a coordinated attack aimed at freeing high-profile detainees,” he said.

An intelligence agency source said that while many prisoners were prevented from fleeing, the attackers managed to shatter van windows and disable police vehicles, briefly overwhelming security at the scene. Authorities have pledged to capture those responsible for the ambush and recapture the remaining escapees, vowing intensified efforts to safeguard detainees in transit.

A federal capital police spokesperson in an official statement said, “An ambush on police vans transporting 82 prisoners near Sangjani Toll Plaza on Friday has left four police officers injured. The vans, en route to Attock Jail following a court appearance, came under attack by assailants in four vehicles armed with weapons, sticks, and stones.

The sudden assault led to chaos, with attackers attempting to halt the convoy and break into the vans. Police forces quickly responded to the attack, resulting in the arrest of three of the assailants, while others fled the scene.

Following the incident, senior police officials arrived with reinforcements, overseeing operations to secure the area and monitor the situation. Multiple police teams have been mobilised to track down the attackers, with search operations launched in various areas around Sangjani.

The attack has sparked concerns regarding the security protocols for high-risk prisoner transfers and has raised questions about police preparedness for protecting detainees in transit. Authorities are now investigating the incident and reviewing the protocols to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Meanwhile, in a video statement after the attack, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram Friday termed the attack on prisoner vans a drama. He called on the prime minister, Punjab chief minister, minister for interior and IG Islamabad to stop the ‘ulterior tactics’. “PTI workers will not allow the drama you want to do to succeed like planning to arrest our people in another case. We strongly condemn it, and will not condone any such act,” he made it clear.

He said that 82 of our people, including two MPs, were being taken to Attock in three prisoner vans, suddenly the vehicles were returned to Chungi No 26 from near Faisal Town. He continued then the SHO of Tarnol Police Station broke the windows of the prisoner’s van, and took out the prisoners and asked them to flee. “This is only an effort to implicate [them] in another FIR, which we strongly condemn and will not pardon any such move,” he said.

Meanwhile, talking to the media, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said the PTI had orchestrated the armed attack on the prison vans.

“Armed workers of the PTI including a son of the MPA of the PTI from KP Liaquat Sahib attacked the prison vans which were carrying 83 detainees, and slowed down near the Sangjani Toll Plaza,” said the minister.

He said upto 30 persons in four cars attacked the vans to help the detainees to escape from the custody of the police which had successfully repulsed the attack. Two police personnel got injured, but all those who tried to flee had been re-arrested.

Four assailants, including the son of the PTI’s MPA have been arrested, while their weapons and two cars were taken into custody, he said, adding interrogation of the arrested persons was underway.

Tarar said rest of the assailants and their cars were being traced and would be taken into custody soon. All those involved in the planning and abetment of the attack would face the law, he added.

The authorities had the CCTV footage of the attack, said the minister while debunking a flimsy story worked out by the PTI which claims that the police had staged the attack and itself opened the gates of the vans for prisoners and then vandalised the vehicles by themselves.

The PTI’s reaction over the incident is “ludicrous”, he said, asking its spokesperson to be ashamed of himself for churning out such lies that showed the party had nothing to do but “deceit and fraud”.

The minister condemned the attack which was “planned by the PTI in a habitual criminal manner and just like gangsters, who always attacked a prison van at a time when it was supposed to be slowed down”.

Tarar said the PTI had a history of attacking the state, citing the incidents of May 9 which included attack on memorials of the martyrs, and vandalising of PTV building and the Parliament’s gate during the sit-in of 2014.

They always resorted to the politics of violence, he said, vowing a strict legal action against the perpetrators of the attack. An example will be set to prevent recurrence of such incidents and the writ of the state would be established at all cost, he stressed.

He said nobody would have dared to challenge the writ of the state if the perpetrators of May 9 were taken to the task. The minister said those who attacked the state in civilised societies like the United States and London were imprisoned upto 20 years for attacking the state.