Suspects in Ahsan Iqbal attack case indicted by court

An anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala indicted prime suspect Abid Hussain and others in the Ahsan Iqbal attack case on Wednesday.

On May 6, Iqbal was shot and injured in Narowal district of Punjab. The former interior minister, who belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was attacked during a corner meeting of the party and was shot twice in his arm.

Judge Imran Ali of the anti-terrorism court presided over the hearing of the attack case. All suspects appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty. The court summoned the plaintiff's witness in the next hearing scheduled for July 17.



Prime suspect Abid requested the court to arrange government counsel as he cannot afford one due to his financial conditions upon which the court fixed Advocate Shazia Humayoun as government counsel for him.

On May 7, a government official from Narowal confirmed that the attacker was affiliated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik. The preliminary report sent to the then chief secretary of the provincial government by deputy commissioner Narowal, said the man “showed his affiliation to Tehreek-e-Labbaik”.

Attacker Abid shot at the interior minister from a distance of 15 yards as he was leaving a corner meeting. Iqbal was moved to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lahore’s Services Hospital following two surgeries.