ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Police registered a case on Sunday against Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, for allegedly inciting violence while en route to a public rally organized by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Lahore, with details emerging on Tuesday.
Thousands of people arrived in Lahore on Saturday from various parts of Pakistan to attend the rally, which demanded Khan’s release, as he has been imprisoned on multiple charges for over a year. By the time Gandapur, who is also a close aide to the ex-premier, arrived at the rally’s venue, PTI leaders had been asked to wind up since the designated time for the public gathering had expired.
However, people in the KP chief minister’s convoy reportedly engaged in violence at one of the toll plazas and threatened the police officers deployed there.
According to a police report, his convoy broke traffic rules by using the wrong side of the road due to congestion while approaching the toll plaza near the Sialkot Interchange.
“On Ali Amin’s orders, an armed group began smashing the windows of the toll plaza cabins, the barriers used to stop vehicles and the CCTV cameras,” the police complaint said.
It maintained the people accompanying the chief minister also targeted the private vehicles at waiting to cross the toll plaza and broke their windows.
When the police officials jumped into action, the vehicles driven by the group sped toward them “with the intent to kill.”
“But we managed to save ourselves by jumping to the sides,” the police complaint continued, adding the armed individuals also “pointed their AK-47 rifles at us with the intent to take our lives.”
Gandapur faces charges in Punjab, where the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is in power, while his province is governed by Khan’s PTI.
Both parties are at political odds, with PTI in opposition at the federal level and PML-N leading the central government.
Punjab Police charge KP chief minister under Anti-Terrorism Act for allegedly inciting violence
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Punjab Police charge KP chief minister under Anti-Terrorism Act for allegedly inciting violence
- Police say people in Ali Amin Gandapur’s caravan smashed the window of a toll plaza near Sialkot Interchange
- Police also accused them of targeting private vehicles and threatening uniformed personnel with AK-47 rifles
Pakistan expresses condolences as Bangladesh’s first female PM passes away
- Khaleda Zia passed away in Dhaka after prolonged illness at the age of 80, says her party
- PM Shehbaz Sharif describes Zia as a “committed friend of Pakistan” in condolence message
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed condolences over the passing of Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, describing her as a committed friend of Islamabad.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced its leader Zia had passed away at the age of 80 after prolonged illness. She died at the Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where the former prime minister was admitted on Nov. 23 with symptoms of a lung infection, according to The Daily Star, a Bangladesh news website.
“Deeply saddened by the passing of Begum Khaleda Zia, Chairperson of the BNP and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
“Her lifelong service to Bangladesh and its growth and development leaves a lasting legacy.”
Sharif said his government and people stand with the people of Bangladesh during this difficult time.
“Begum Zia was a committed friend of Pakistan,” he added.
Pakistan and Bangladesh used to be part of the same country before the latter seceded into the separate nation of Bangladesh after a bloody civil war in 1971.
Ties between the two countries have remained mostly strained since then. However, Islamabad enjoyed better relations with Dhaka under Zia’s government compared to when Bangladesh was led by her arch-rival, Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina was ousted after a violent uprising last year, leading to improved relations between Islamabad and Dhaka.
Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February 2026.
The BNP is widely seen as a frontrunner, and Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, who returned only on Thursday after 17 years in exile, is seen as a potential prime minister if they win a majority.
-With additional input from AFP
