'Attempt to murder' case against Imran Khan, his party's KP province chief minister in Pakistan

Islamabad: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his party's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur were on Tuesday booked in a new case of 'attempt to murder' linked to the death of a policeman during their party's protest here over the weekend.

“The case has been registered on the state's behalf at federal capital's Noon police station under the sections of attempted murder, arson, attack on the state and violence against police personnel as well as anti-terrorism act (ATA) on Tuesday,” The News International newspaper said.

Pakistan government charged incarcerated Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Gandapur with attempt to murder of Islamabad Capital Territory Police's constable Abdul Hameed, who was allegedly attacked by miscreants during PTI's D-Chowk protest on Friday night and died during treatment two days later.

Khan has been incarcerated at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for more than a year. Upon his call for the rally, the PTI planned the rally at D-Chowk here demanding Khan's release, independence of the judiciary, and protesting rising inflation.

D-Chowk here is the same venue where the PTI had organised a sit-in for 126 days in 2014.

When the government tried to prevent the rally on Friday, there were clashes between security personnel and the party supporters, resulting in Hameed's death and left several others injured.

Other PTI leaders Azam Swati, Omar Ayub, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, PTI Islamabad president Aamir Mughal, Malik Hafeez Ur Rehman Tipu and 500 other unidentified individuals have also been nominated in the case, the newspaper said.

Khan's party supporters had similarly stormed at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on Saturday along with the D-Chowk at Islamabad. On Monday, an anti-terrorism court at Lahore sent 130 PTI supporters to jail on judicial remand in four cases related to attacking police and violation of public gathering during the protest outside Minar-e-Pakistan on Saturday.

On Sunday Lahore police said they had booked over 200 PTI leaders and workers, including Khan, under terrorism charges.

Khan's sisters — Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan — had also been detained during the protest demonstration on October 4. They are currently under police custody with others arrested alongside them.