The PTI on Wednesday demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the attack on the party's central information secretary, Raoof Hasan, who a day earlier was struck in the face with a blade allegedly by a group of transgender individuals in the federal capital.
The party also rejected the FIR lodged by the Islamabad police, while the government insisted that it was taking the incident seriously.
Following the attack, the perpetrators managed to flee the scene with ease. The PTI leader was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and later discharged.
National Assembly Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub, accompanied by other prominent PTI leaders including a bandaged Hasan, Azam Swati, Shaukat Basra, and Khalid Khurshid, while addressing the media condemned the attack on his colleague.
He called for immediate action to ensure the security and safety of the party members.
Recalling the events of Tuesday, Ayub said the attack took place at around 5:15pm when Hasan was leaving the office of a private TV channel.
"He [Hasan] was subjected to a murderous attack."
The opposition leader noted that the attackers used a sharp weapon to assault Hasan, inflicting 'severe injuries' on one side of his body.
"Fortunately, Raoof Hasan survived this life-threatening attack," Ayub said, adding that the party refused to accept the FIR lodged by the Islamabad police.
He alleged that the FIR was not in accordance with what Hasan had stated in his written complaint.
Read FIR of attack on PTI’s Raoof Hasan registered
“It is an attempt to tamper with the case by the police. We want to know who pressured the Islamabad police to write and register that FIR, which does not mention the word terrorism at all.”
He claimed that "deliberate attempts to undermine the integrity of the case" were being made.
“The case itself is being influenced by ‘external parties’.”
Speaking on the occasion, Hasan, while elaborating further, said the attackers had well-trained bodies with taut muscles so they were not from the transgender community. He added that the transgender community had also disowned the attackers.
Explaining further, he said the attackers abused and threatened him during the assault.
“They [attackers] kept saying ‘we are after you’.”
He maintained that the attack on him was part of a “properly orchestrated plan”, pointing out that he had run into “transgender” assailants on Monday too.
Hasan said since the ouster of former premier Imran Khan's government, the PTI had been the target of repeated injustice.
The party's information secretary said the current situation resembled "a dictatorship under the facade of democracy".
"The voice of the people and media has been silenced over the past two years.”
A spokesperson for the Islamabad police in a statement wrote that they were conducting the investigation in a professional manner.
He added that the FIR was registered as per Hasan’s signed application.
The incident was raised in a Senate session by PTI Senator Shibli Faraz, who described the incident as “unacceptable”.
In response, Federal Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said an investigation was under way and the footage as well as pictures of the incident had been sent to the forensic laboratory and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to help trace the culprits.
He continued that the case would be taken to its logical conclusion and the report of the attack would be made public soon.
The minister maintained that the provisions of attempted murder had also been included in the FIR – that did not apply to such cases under normal circumstances – so that the opposition did not turn into an issue.
Azam further claimed that the government was serious in addressing the case.
“A special team had been formed to investigate the attack and arrest those involved in it.”
He expressed sorrow over the attack, saying that such incidents should not happen.
"The seriousness of the government over the incident should not be questioned.”
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ