Self-immolation attempt in front of SC foiled

Islamabad : Islamabad police on Friday thwarted a self-immolation attempt by a former employee of the National Highway Authority (NHA) in front of the Supreme Court.

A group of police personnel deployed at the Supreme Court overpowered the person identified as Abdul Wahid Baluch son of Eissa Khan, a resident of Shakrial, Rawalpindi and recovered a bottle of petrol, matchbox and his bike and handed him over to the Secretariat police for further course of action against him. He was also accompanied by two of his minor daughters who were unaware of what their father was going to do.

Wahid Baluch was among the 16,000 employees who were sacked by the Supreme Court of Pakistan recently. Wahid Baloch was among the educated youth who were recruited in various departments and organisations on merit in 1996. However, in 1997 the then PML-N government had removed them but they were reinstated through an Act of Parliament in 2010. However, the Supreme Court's verdict in the case, pending since 2012, recently ordered the sacking of more than 16,000 employees.

The police personnel witnessing the episode of self-immolation attempt told ‘The News’ that they saw a bike-riding man with two minor girls, parked his bike outside the parking lot of the Supreme Court building, placed his daughters under a tree whipped out a bottle of petrol from his pocket and threw it on his clothes. “I was watching his doubtful activities and as he lit a match, I along with other cops rushed to him and overpowered him snatching the matchbox and petrol bottle from his hand and took him aside,” a cop said when asked.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Wahid for attempting to finish his life.