Target attack: JI district ameer, two others shot

Caretaker chief minister seeks report from city police officer, commissioner.


Our Correspondent March 30, 2013
Police tried to pacify the protestors. PHOTO: FILE

GUJRANWALA:


Jamaat-i-Islami district ameer Bilal Qudrat Butt and his deputy (naib ameer) were shot on Friday by unidentified men. A passer-by was also injured in the firing.


The injured were taken to Civil Hospital, where doctors said that Butt’s condition was critical. Butt was shot in the abdomen and the pelvic bone. Naib ameer Ehsan Siddique Butt and the passer-by, Muhammad Ikram, were later reported to be out of danger.

The firing took place in Mohalla Darul Islam in Qila Deedar Singh, when Butt was visiting his NA-98 constituency as part of his election campaign. Butt has the party ticket for the constituency.

Police said the shooting occurred near Yousaf Langah Dera.

The assailants fled and remain unidentified. Witnesses said there were two of them.

They said their faces were covered and they fired from some distance.

Following the incident, more than 200 JI workers and Shabab-i-Milli youth visited the hospital and staged a demonstration to protest the attack. They demanded that police arrest the suspects and ensure foolproof security for candidates.



Former JI district ameer Hameeduddin Awan said this was an attack on fair campaigning and on those determined to bring about a positive change in the country. He said action would be taken as soon as Butt recovered.

Senior police officials also reached the hospital and tried to pacify the protesters. Directing police to search “every corner of the district”, they assured the protesters that suspects would soon be arrested.

Care-taker Chief Minister Najam Sethi has sought a report on the incident from the city police officer and the commissioner.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Satellite Town) Zubair Ahmed said that police were alert. He said they were waiting for a complaint to be filed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2013. 

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