Two arrested for attacking Ali Musa Gilani’s convoy

Unknown assailants opened fire on election rally of PPP in Multan

MULTAN: Two suspects were arrested on Friday after a convoy of Ali Musa Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was attacked by unknown assailants in Multan last night.

Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam addressing the media said: “Two assailants have been arrested and further investigation is underway.”



A few unknown assailants opened fire on the election rally of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) near Shah Rukn-e-Alam Colony in Multan. Musa is contesting polls in NA-157 (earlier NA-148) in the upcoming general elections.

However, no casualties were reported in the incident.

Musa said that they have demanded provision of security but sufficient security was not being provided to the candidates despite threat alerts from the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta). He said that during the election campaign for the 2013 general elections, his brother Ali Haider Gilani was abducted and recovered after three years from Afghanistan.

“The PPP is always on the hit list of assailants and terrorists,” he said, demanding that strict security should be provided to PPP candidates during the ongoing electioneering.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken notice of the matter and issued directives for the provision of security to the PPP candidate.

Speaking to reporters, the Punjab IGP said that two culprits were arrested and a detailed report has been submitted to the ECP secretary. He said the Punjab police are providing security to all the candidates as directed by the ECP. He added that directives have been issued to RPO, DPO and CPO Multan to expedite the search operations and intelligence combing operations in Punjab particularly in the southern belt.



IGP Imam further said that extra police contingents will be deployed on all sensitive locations under the supervision of circle officers. He issued directives to impose a ban on the display of weapons, aerial firing and use of the loudspeaker.

Strict action would be taken against violators of the Loud Speaker Act, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2018.