Khanzada's attackers identified, says Rana Sanaullah

Law minister says threats have been received against Punjab Assembly

LAHORE:

Terrorists behind the Attock attack have been identified and efforts are underway to arrest them, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday.

He was addressing a pre-session briefing at the Punjab Assembly.

“Threats have also been received of a terrorist attack on the Punjab Assembly. After the Attock attack, the government is even more committed to rooting out terrorism. Steps are being taken to ensure that every attempt at a terrorist attack is pre-empted,” he said.

Sanaullah paid rich tributes to the slain home minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada. “The government will not rest till the culprits behind the Attock attack have been brought to justice,” he said.

He said the security cover provided to Khanzada was in accordance with that provided to provincial ministers. “There were specific threats about the presence of terrorists in his hometown, Shadi Khan, which should have been considered. He had not visited his hometown for over three weeks. However, he had to go there following the death of a family member. This proved fatal. The government will implement the recommendations of the committee investigating the Attock attack,” he said.

Read: Local network helped Khanzada's attacker: report

The minister said the Punjab Assembly session starting on Wednesday (today) will continue for two weeks. He said that 20 bills would be presented in the House during the session. “Among those bills, the most important ones are the Women Protection Bill and amendments to the Local Government Act,” he said.

Sanaullah dismissed the reservations expressed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regarding transparency in the conduct of upcoming local government polls. “PTI chief Imran Khan has a habit of expressing reservations over every issue and demanding resignations from officials,” he said.

The law minister criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for mismanagement in the local government elections there. “The elections will be carried out in a phased manner to prevent any administrative mismanagement,” he said.

He said that the election tribunal’s decision about the NA-122 was biased. “The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will emerge victorious in case of a re-election in the constituency,” he said.

The minister said that the government was scrutinising all information received about terrorist threats. “There is credible information regarding a terrorist threat to the Punjab Assembly during the upcoming session. For this reason, all assembly members have been requested to abstain from bringing any guests to the premises. The government has ensured foolproof security measures,” he said.

Sanaullah said that the citizens’ cooperation was necessary to deal with terrorism. “We request everyone to stay alert and cooperate with security agencies,” he said.

Separately, a meeting was held at the assembly chambers on Tuesday to discuss security for the session. Assembly secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain and police officials attended the meeting.

Read: LEAs told to expedite investigation

Hussain asked the police officials to make foolproof security arrangements during the session. It was decided that vehicles will not be allowed on the assembly premises and there will be a ban on the entry of guests during the session.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2015.