MPA’s husband detained for hours over road-rage fight

The husband of a provincial lawmaker from Punjab was detained by the capital police for hours after he slapped a judge during a road-rage fray in the high-security zone on Sunday.

Chaudhry Khurram, the spouse of PTI MPA Abida Raja, became violent during a frenzied argument with Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Jehangir Awan over “improper overtaking” on the road, according to sources.

The verbal slugfest turned into a fistfight when Khurram slapped the judge. Awan took out a gun from his car and fired shots near the legs of Khurram to make him stand down.

The scuffle happened near a gasoline station opposite the Foreign Office building on Constitutional Avenue – stone’s throw from key state buildings, including the Supreme Court, Parliament and President Houses, and the Prime Minister House.

A Secretariat police patrol reached the site, detained Khurram and drove him to the police station.

While confirming the incident, SP City Omar Khan told The Express Tribune that Khurram is the husband of Abida Raja, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA of the Punjab Assembly.

He added that Khurram’s wife was not present in the vehicle when the incident happened. No FIR was registered as neither side wanted to take the matter to court.

Khurram remained in “detention” at the police station for five hours and was released after the judge said he would not press the charges against him. DIG Operations Waqar-ud-Din Syed also confirmed the incident.