FIR lodged against PTI leaders for attacking Jinnah House

PTI chief Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Hammad Azhar, Murad Saeed among those nominated in case

An FIR has been registered against leaders and activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for attacking the historic Jinnah House in Lahore's Cantonment area.

The FIR states that PTI leaders Mian Aslam Iqbal and Mehmoodur Rasheed led the protests while PTI chairman Imran Khan, and senior leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Farrukh Habib abetted the attackers.

The case has been registered under 20 various sections, including anti-terrorism offences, murder, and attempt to murder.

Other PTI leaders including Hammad Azhar, Mussarat Jamshed Cheema, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Zubair Niazi, Asad Zaman, Murad Saeed, and Ali Amin Gundapur have also been nominated in the case.

Read more: Some PTI leaders in contact with 'foreign agencies', claims Vawda

In an unprecedented show of vandalism, PTI supporters had attacked and caused damage to the historic Corps' Commander’s House — originally known as Jinnah House and which once served as the residence of the founding father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah — hours after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested PTI chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the media was allowed to visit the damaged historical building to assess the damage caused by the protestors.

Pictures and videos from the historic building showed that all the rooms, halls, drawing rooms, living rooms, walls, curtains, doors, wooden ceilings, and even the floor had been burnt by the protestors.

Jinnah House, which served as the residence of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has been used as the residence of the Corps Commander Lahore.

The 130-year-old building of the Military Engineering Services, a few furlongs away from Corps' Commander House, was also set on fire, where valuable records, furniture, and vehicles were set ablaze.

Read more: Govt calls in army to control law and order situation in Punjab, K-P

A member of staff, Abdul Rahman, said he begged the protestors that civil servants also work there, but the miscreants did not listen to him and set fire to the entire furniture.

Moreover, the glasses of the canteen store department (CSD) were also broken, and  valuable items, including motorcycles, were stolen.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the owner of a pharmacy in CSD, Sultan Wadudbari, said he had built a the medical store with great effort and difficulty, but the protesters had sticks in their hands, and they did not spare anyone, and even broke the glass windows and shelves of his shop.

Officials said that committees have been formed to assess the damage caused by the angry PTI workers and supporters to the Corps' Commander House and other important buildings, while rehabilitation and reconstruction work of the affected buildings will be started soon.

Audio leaks

On Wednesday, audio leaks also surfaced on social media, indicating that the leadership of the PTI was allegedly involved in the attack.

The purported audio clips appeared to show that PTI senior leaders had urged party workers to gather at the Jinnah House, as they "rejoiced" the damage caused to the historic building in the recorded telephone calls.

"We have destroyed the entire Corp Commander House and ended their story," Ali Chaudhry could be allegedly heard telling PTI leader Ejaz Chaudhry in one of the recordings.

Due to the unprecedented situation, the interim provincial governments has requisitioned army troops to maintain law and order in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provinces.

Meanwhile, Section 144 has also been imposed in Sindh to maintain law and order across the province.

At least six protesters have so far been reported dead since Tuesday evening after the protests turned violent, with several others injured. At least three policemen were also seriously injured in clashes with PTI supporters in Peshawar.

Officials at Edhi Foundation reported two deaths in Lahore while another three were reported in Peshawar. At least one PTI worker was killed in a firing incident at a protest rally in Quetta.