MANSEHRA: Police have lodged an FIR against six armed masked men, who allegedly intercepted and fired at the vehicle of Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) deputy provincial president Kamal Saleem Swati, who is also the nephew of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.’We have registered FIR against six to seven unidentified accused on the written complaint of Mr Swati and started an investigation,’ an official in the police department told journalists on Thursday.
PTI activists had assembled at Insaf Secretariat following the incident and later marched on Abbottabad road and Kashmir road to protest the alleged kidnapping attempt of their partyprovincial deputy president and firing on his vehicle on Karakoram Highway outside Ghazikot Township here on Wednesday night.
The protesters also staged a sit-in outside City police station, seeking registration of an FIR of the incident, which, according to PTI sources, compelled police to register the case under sections 324,365,511,427,148 and1490f Pakistan Penal Code.According to the FIR, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn, six to seven armed masked men intercepted the vehicle of Mr Swati and attempted to kidnap him while firing at the vehicle.
They fled after guards of the PTI leader retaliated.
It stated that a policeman, Ziauddin, who was in uniform for the security of Mr Swati, was overpowered by the masked attackers. They also snatchedhis official Kalashnikov and managed to flee in their pickup vehicle after failing to kidnap the complainant.
‘The armed men fired at me in an attempt to kill me, but fortunately I escaped unhurt. They managed to flee in their pickup vehicle. This incident was not only witnessed by the men and guards travelling with me, but also by motorists and passers-by on KKH, Mr Swati stated in the FIR.