Naqvi says Bushra, Gandapur on the run: Surprise midnight operation sends PTI protesters fleeing Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: In surprise action late Tuesday night, the law enforcers cleared the capital’s Blue Area of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters of while their leaders — Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur — were on the run “as of now,” according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Talking to reporters past midnight at D-Chowk, Naqvi said PTI founder’s spouse Bushra Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur “were on the run as of now” after crackdown on the PTI protesters. He said situation in the federal capital would be normal and the administration would remove containers from roads at the earliest.

He lauded the performance of the law enforcers, especially Pakistan Rangers. He said cases would be registered for violence, including martyrdom of Rangers personnel. He said chief commissioner and the IGP would brief media on the cases and arrests, including those of Afghan nationals.

He said, “Schools to reopen from tomorrow (Thursday). Mobile internet will be restored today (Wednesday),” he announced. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that he had no knowledge of a meeting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and PTI founder Imran Khan.

He criticised the PTI, accusing it of targeting media outlets. He added that authorities would review CCTV footage to assess the extent of the damage caused.

Later, talking to reporters at D-Chowk, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar strongly condemned attack on media houses, saying that the PTI protesters “ran away” leaving behind vehicles, footwear and clothes.

He said that the PTI had planned to target government personalities, posted on important position. He said the “final call” for protest had turned out to be “missed call.”

Tarar asked why Imran Khan and “Pinky” kept their children off these protests and use common man as conn fodder. He named the sons and “daughter” of Imran Khan.

Around midnight, Tarar appeared on TV screens, and showed CCTV footage of miscreants using the “modern firearms” during their protest that had claimed lives of a few rangers and police personnel and inflicted injuries to the many. The minister shared some footages to this end during his talk to the media.

The CCTV footage covered violence at the express highway, and pointed out some miscreants using tear gas guns and shells in the video.

He also displayed the shells and cartridges used by the miscreants and said the government had pushed them away from the D-Chowk.

Gandapur and Bushra Bibi on Tuesday night fled in a car, along with the activists.

Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi were in a car near Kulsoom Plaza in Blue Area in the federal capital, and a small number of PTI protesters were near the vehicles, Geo News reported.

According to sources, as soon as the late night the police operation started in the Blue Area, Bushra Bibi and Gandapur fled from the D-Chowk area and according to reports, both fled from the D-Chowk area in the same vehicle.

Sources said that it could not be said in which direction Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin went, but according to reports, the two fled from Jinnah Avenue in the same car.

According to police sources, the police managed to stop the vehicle of the guards of Gandapur. While KP CM and Bushra Bibi’s car is being chased.

Bushra Bibi’s car had been diverted to the KP House and the Islamabad police squad was in pursuit of Bushra Bibi’s car. As the leadership fled, activists were also abandoning vehicles on Jinnah Avenue and Seventh Avenue, and were heading to residential areas.

After returning from Jinnah Avenue, the PTI protesters started returning home, and a large number of people are ready to leave on the way from Islamabad to Peshawar.

Earlier, speaking to Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, PTI leader Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif confirmed that it is true Bushra Bibi said that she would go to D-Chowk, so she reached there. He said that the PTI’s clear position is that as per the announcement of November 24, they have reached Islamabad; the first phase of their protest has been completed and now the second phase will begin.

He noted that thousands of people were sitting in D-Chowk; bullets were being fired and that it was a question of people’s lives. “If there is a crackdown, there is a fear that more lives will be lost, which will worsen the matter,” he feared and contended that if the government had acted with political prudence, they would not have been protesting today.

Saif charged that the government’s attitude was that they had probably decided to make mistakes after mistakes, cautioning that the result of using violence would also be against the government.

He said: “We will continue to sit until the demands are met, there was no assurance regarding Sangjani (for protest), it was a proposal; this proposal was presented to the founder of PTI but the party leadership did not accept the proposal.

Imran, he pointed out, said that there was no objection to the rally at Sangjani and that negotiations should be started with the government.

The PTI leader said that they tried to take the path of reconciliation instead of confrontation, whereas he was nominated in the murder of a policeman who died of a heart attack in the last protest.

He said that various personalities including Mohsin Naqvi were involved in the negotiations, adding that the interior minister’s statement regarding ending the negotiations was not correct.

Saif regretted that the attitude adopted towards the PTI founder was inappropriate, who had not shaved or been allowed to walk for three days.

He reiterated that the release of Imran Khan, return of the election mandate, and abolition of the 26th Constitutional Amendment were their demands, and the talk would be held on these demands. “If the government shows positive intention for talks, we will also form a committee,” he maintained.

Saif said that how many times did the defence minister say that Ali Amin could not cross Attock but they crossed Attock and came to Islamabad.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference along with Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in the federal capital, Interior Minister Minister Mohsin Naqvi ruled out the possibility of holding any kind of negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) planning to stage a sit-in at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

Conveying message of the government, Naqvi said that no negotiation with the PTI leadership could be initiated in these circumstances when Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan are under trial.

Without naming Bushra Bibi, wife of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, the interior minister said: “A woman is behind this chaos.”

Separately, talking to the media at D Chowk, the interior minister said that about 2,000 people who came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are properly trained, who used automatic weapons and shot gun firing and hurling teargas shells on the officials of law enforcement agencies.

The intelligence agencies are collecting information about them who are using fire arms against law enforcers.

Naqvi said that the PTI leadership of the wants talks but there is a secret leadership behind it which is controlling everything.

He said that it is the IG’s prerogative how to handle them. “We had offered Sangjani to the protesters but they negotiate and then come forward after getting time.”

He said that the entire leadership of PTI does not want bloodshed but wants to talk, “only a secret leadership is sitting who is controlling everything, I think”

Naqvi said that this hidden hand has not succeeded in its objectives but its agenda is something else. There is no position of any leader before her. This secret hand can be an alarm bell for the party and Imran Khan as well.

He said that the arms and tear gas shells were provided by the KK government. He said that the cost of one shell was Rs4,500.

It is very easy to answer the miscreant with bullets, but they do not believe in dropping dead bodies. However, after these situations, the police chief has been allowed to decide his own strategy according to the situation to establish law and order.

He said that they took an Afghan national with them to target law enforcers. He said that the protests were violent. Those, who carried weapons with them and breached law, have been arrested and shifted to police stations. Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Atta Tarar said that Bushra Bibi has come with a plan to ‘get the bodies’.

Addressing the media here, Atta noted the PTI founder Iran Khan’s spouse reached D Chowk herself; they want a tragedy to happen, the state will not allow the goals of the rioters and anarchists to be fulfilled.

He warned the PTI protestors and said that the patience of the state should not be tested, the end of the state’s patience is terrible, asking the protesters to go back.

The minister questioned that on whose hands should we find the blood of the martyrs of the police and the Rangers? “They want to sabotage the visit of the president of Belarus, the state will not allow the objectives of the rioters to be fulfilled,” he emphasised.

However, he pointed out that the visiting president of Belarus gave a speech in favour of Pakistan.

Tarar said that there are wage laborers and Afghan citizens among the protesters, as they are using hired people as human shields.

“They (PTI leadership) have not lived without bloodshed. They have put other people’s children in front, the state is showing patience,” he maintained.

The information minister said that we are ready to sacrifice our lives for Pakistan, it is very easy to respond to a brick with a stone, the enemies of the country want to spread anarchy in the country, we will not allow it.

He said that there would be a reaction to their actions as they are using the children of the poor as fuel, adding that their ideology is anti-national.

PTI founder chairman PTI Imran Khan has lauded his party’s supporters in Islamabad and urged them to remain steadfast in their protests until their demands are met.

According to a statement shared via his official ‘X’ account, he expressed his gratitude to the Pakistani nation and PTI activists for standing up for their rights and engaging in peaceful protests against what he described as a ‘mafia’ that has taken control of the country.

He remarked, “I salute the Pakistani nation and PTI workers who are standing for their rights, protesting peacefully, and demanding real freedom in the face of the mafia imposed on this country.”

Imran said his message to his team was clear, “fight until the last ball, and we will not back down until our demands are fulfilled”. He accused the authorities of violence against protesters, claiming that the police and Rangers, under the direction of Mohsin Naqvi, fired upon the PTI workers and used tear gas, resulting in injuries.

Demanding accountability for the actions taken against the demonstrators, he contended that not only were the citizens peaceful, but they also assisted the Rangers, police, and personnel in providing rescue efforts while condemning the use of force against peaceful protesters.

Regarding the possibility of facing military courts, Imran Khan expressed confidence and said, “I am not afraid of military courts and will not back down from our demands. Whatever they need to do, let them do it.”

He urged all Pakistanis to join the ongoing protests, underscoring that the movement was crucial for the survival of the nation and the quest for true freedom. He advised all protesters must remain peaceful, united, and steadfast until our demands are met, calling it the struggle for Pakistan’s survival and true independence.

Meanwhile, in her speech to the charged party workers on the Seventh Avenue, (a few furlongs away from D-Chowk), Bushra Bibi vowed that she will be the last woman to leave D-Chowk without her husband and PTI founder Imran Khan.

She took a pledge from the workers not to leave D-Chowk until Imran Khan is released and said that if anyone tells you that Bushra Bibi had left, it would be a lie. She claimed that if there would have been any other leader, then he would have made a deal.

Bushra Bibi said that the whole of Pakistan has come out on Khan’s call and that this crowd is testifying that he is innocent but he is being treated badly in jail, no political leader can serve such a sentence.

She maintained that “Muslims do not kill other Muslims, then why are we being shelled? We are peaceful, then why are you (administration) shelling us? Don’t you know that Khan is only fighting for the voice of truth and justice, he stands for the truth”.

“…When we were allowed to meet him, his condition was such that you cannot even imagine. Khan was kept in a small cell without a bed or a sheet. That cell was full of dirt and he was made to sleep on the floor. He himself did not say anything, his condition was telling,” she said. She claimed that Imran Khan was treated so badly that if he had been any other political leader, he would have succumbed. She continued Khan was kept in darkness in Adiala Jail, wondering who does this to a former prime minister? If he had been a leader of any other party, he would have made a deal and sat at his house.

Bushra Bibi called her spouse a falcon who always flies high. All the vultures who were with Khan left. “I appeal to the people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to come out of their homes, for God’s sake, how long will you keep quiet and watch the spectacle. Despite all the obstacles, we are here today,” she noted.

She said: “Imran Khan always said that the army is also mine and the country is also mine, then what is the fight for? We will go to D-Chowk and sit in protest for as many days as we have to.”

Earlier Bushra directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur “to lead the convoy of protesters from the front”.

The former first lady, who is travelling behind the KP chief minister’s caravan, directed the PTI protesters to follow Gandapur and take him to D-Chowk with them.

Following Bushra’s order, the Gandapur-led convoy started advancing towards Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

After retaliating situation of the law and order and the deaths of four Rangers personnel in Islamabad, the military has been called in to take control of the security of the Federal Capital. Military troops have landed on roads of Islamabad to control the law and order situation and started patrolling the streets.

Army units have been deployed at different sensitive areas with orders to “shoot on sight” if any miscreants are found.

Earlier, at about 3 am on Tuesday, targeting Rangers deployed at F-10 Chawk, a black V8 Land Cruiser appeared from H-11 and rammed into the Rangers troop with the speed of over 150 km/h, crushed leaving four officials dead on the spot while more than 7 sustained serious injuries.

The security officials said that the activists of PTI deliberately targeting law enforcement officers, resulting in the deaths of several personnel. The authorities instructed to identify and punish those responsible for the violence.

According to security sources, violent PTI protesters have attacked law enforcement agencies, resulting in the martyrdom of four Rangers and two police officers. Numerous Rangers and police personnel have also been injured, with over 100 security officials reportedly wounded, many seriously.

Under Article 245 of the Constitution, the military has been summoned to Islamabad, with strict orders to deal with rioters firmly. Army units arrived at D-Chowk amid ongoing clashes between protesters and police, assuming control of the area and evacuating media personnel. Army personnel also took positions atop containers.

Announcements from local mosques urged protesters to avoid violence and damage to property, warning of strict action against those taking the law into their own hands.

Security sources stated that clear orders have been issued to neutralise miscreants immediately, with all measures being employed to counter terrorist activities.

Despite barriers, PTI’s convoy reached D-Chowk under the leadership of Bushra Bibi and KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Addressing workers, Gandapur announced a sit-in at D-Chowk, stating, “Imran Khan had asked us to reach here, and no one is leaving until further instructions.”

Most of the agitators of different groups seen chanted slogans of “Aazadi” while marching towards D-Chawk.

Later, the Rangers took back control of D-Chowk by pushing back the PTI protesters.

The PTI claimed multiple injuries among their workers due to police firing, with additional allegations of direct attacks. PTI leadership, including Bushra Bibi, addressed protesters, urging them to remain steadfast until Imran Khan himself gives further instructions.

With growing tensions, the government reiterated its stance to protect Red Zone areas and prevent bloodshed, despite the escalating confrontations between protesters and security forces.

The aggression from agitators continued all the day when agitators and personnel of law enforcement agencies were hurling teargas shells interruptedly but the shells thrown from the PTI protests were more infuriating and harmful than the law enforcers. Kind of war was on the horizon during the pugnacious competition between both. At about 4:30pm, the PTI protestors, finally hit their target and reached D-Chawk. The protestors attacked on personnel of law enforcing agencies deployed at Red Zone, resulted in sever clash between the law enforcement agencies and the PTI activists.

The Islamabad IGP encouraging his force to fight against the law breakers, during his speech before the rally hit the Red Zone, saying that they have to push them out of Islamabad.

Some protesters entered into the Red Zone after removing hurdles at D-Chawk and scattered in the sensitive zone. The police, however, arrested some of the aggressive protesters and shifted them to police station.

All commercial centers, hotels and bus stands in Islamabad remained closed. Due to severe shelling, residents of nearby areas struggled to inhale fresh air as black and white smoke pervaded the area.

The closure of major roads and rally entry points disrupted daily life, leaving men, women, and children effectively imprisoned in their own homes in the twin cities of Islamabad and RAwalpindi. Businesses, schools, universities, marriages, and even medical services came to a standstill. Serious patients struggled to reach hospitals as ambulances were blocked from proceeding. The suspension of the metro bus service between Rawalpindi and Islamabad compounded the misery, while petrol pumps along Murree Road remained shut.

Earlier, the charged PTI protesters stopped the KP chief minister Gandapur from leaving the rally.

While the PTI convoy coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was on the 7th Avenue less than a kilometer away from D-Chowk, a vehicle arrived to pick up Gandapur, who had to supposedly leave for some urgent work, but the protesters stopped him from going anywhere.

They raised slogans of (going to) D-Chowk and criticised Gandapur and said this time they will not let him escape. Last time, a few weeks back, on leading PTI rally to this venue, he had all of a sudden gone to nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House. He left the party leaders and workers clueless about the next line of action after they had reached D-Chowk.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that ‘we are very hopeful for the early release of the party founder”.

In his statement released on a social media network, he said that the PTI workers and supporters should remain peaceful in their struggle. Gohar said that he has demanded the government to refrain from filing cases against innocent people.

The PTI has denied the party’s involvement in the accident involving the tragic deaths of the Rangers personnel.

The party’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram has said that no PTI person was involved in the accident involving Rangers personnel.

He said that this incident is regrettable and those involved should be punished; these were our children and protectors, they must be respected.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb termed PTI rally as a terrorist group who wanted bloodshed in the country.

She said this was the real face of PTI and Imran Khan.

Bushra Bibi wanted to shed blood with foreign terrorists and foreign origin nationals. No Pakistani crushes their police and rangers under cars, she added.

According to irrefutable evidence, under the guise of politics, they hired foreign terrorists to kill their own youth and countrymen, she alleged.

There can be no negotiations with terrorists, she announced, and said police, Rangers, FC, domestic and foreign media, press club, no one was spared from the terrorism of these terrorists.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were killers of innocent sons of the nation, there was no forgiveness now, she maintained.

It has been proven that this was not a political party, it was a terrorist group and they wanted dead bodies, they wanted bloodshed, she concluded.

Separately, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that neither security forces nor media workers were safe from the hands of the “Fitna Party”. This is the true and disgraceful face of these fake and so-called peaceful political activists, which has now been exposed, she added.

She said, “I strongly condemn the attack on a private TV channel’s news team by PTI’s mob. It is shameful that in Islamabad, miscreants and rioters also misbehaved with female journalists, which is an extremely disgraceful act.

It is learnt Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called an emergency meeting today (Wednesday). The PTI protest in violation of a restraining order of the Islamabad High Court, overall law and order situation, the death of Rangers and police officials are on the meeting agenda.