PTI lawyer's residence attacked with petrol bombs

Four unknown men threw bombs, fired shots before fleeing ahead of top court's hearing on SC bill; no injuries reported

LAHORE:

Four unknown persons on two motorbikes threw two petrol bombs and fired three bullets at the residence of prominent lawyer Azhar Siddique representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)’s top leaders including Chairman Imran Khan in different cases.

According to CCTV footage available with The Express Tribune, the assailants appeared in front of the House at 1:33am (morning of April 13) situated at DHA phase IV and stopped their bikes at the left and right sides of the house.

The video shows two of the riders stepping down from their bikes and coming near the main gate and throwing two petrol bombs inside the house while a third man can be seen firing three shots that hit the building, breaking one window.

آج رات میرے گھر پر بزدلانہ کاروائی کی پوری وڈیو کی شکل میں تفصیلات جس میں پٹرول بم پھینکنے اور براہ راست فائرنگ کی تفصیلات!!! pic.twitter.com/0j7bUp1MiN

— M Azhar Siddique (@AzharSiddique) April 13, 2023

However, no injuries or losses were reported.

Talking to the Express Tribune on his way to Islamabad, Advocate Siddique said that he was asleep when the attack took place.

“My daughter was awake when the assailants attacked my residence,” Siddique said, adding that "three bullets were fired; one bullet hit the front wall where my daughter was, and one bullet entered the sitting area breaking through the window."

He expressed suspicion that the attack was due to his stance "for supremacy of law", but stressed that “such cowardly moves could not stop me from standing by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and PTI Chairman Imran Khan".

Read Govt seeks dissolution of SC bench hearing bill curtailing CJP's powers

"Some powers are mistaken about me," he said adding that he "was giving them a clear and loud message that such cowardly acts could not stop me from speaking the truth".

"I have been with Imran Khan, am with him and will remain so in the future," he said revealing that he had faced similar attacks in the past when he was fighting a legal battle against the airing of the speeches of the then MQM chief on television.

صرف بم ہی نہیں گولیاں بھی چلی ہیں
بے ضمیروں pic.twitter.com/F0i1GYPIvD

— Sadaf Akhter (@SadafAkhter8) April 13, 2023

The recent attack came before the advocate was scheduled to leave for Islamabad ahead of the high-profile case concerning Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 that he has challenged.

Following the incident, the police officials and forensic and bomb disposal teams reached the spot and collected the evidence. Siddiqui said that a draft was being prepared for the registration of a first information report (FIR) of the incident.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has condemned the attack as he pinned the blame on the government's "fascist" policies.

اظہر صدیق ایڈوکیٹ کے گھر پر حملے کی شدید مذمت کرتا ہوں، یہ حکومت فاشزم کی ہر سٹیج سے گزر رہی ہے، اظہر دلیری اور بہادری سے اس فاشسٹ حکومت کے خلاف قانونی محاذ پر کھڑے ہیں ایسی کاروائیوں سے حوصلے پست نہیں ہوں گے۔ @AzharSiddique

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 13, 2023

"Azhar is standing on the legal front against this fascist government with bravado," he said.

The incident is the latest in a series of controversial attacks on personalities associated with the PTI which the party maintains is part of the political persecution it faces since Imran Khan's ouster from office last April.