https://arab.news/v4gmn
- Constable Abdul Hameed Shah was injured during clashes between Khan supporters and Islamabad police officials on Saturday night
- Khan supporters have been protesting since Friday against proposed constitutional amendments, demanding his release from prison
ISLAMABAD: A police constable succumbed to his wounds today, Sunday, after he was injured in clashes with supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, Islamabad Police spokesperson said as the protest in Pakistan’s capital entered its third day.
Hundreds of Khan supporters arrived in Islamabad from various parts of the country on Friday to take part in a protest at D-Chowk. Over the course of two days, clashes between Khan supporters and police turned violent, with police firing tear gas to disperse protesters. The government has said that dozens of cops were injured in clashes between the two sides.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced they were protesting against the government’s proposed constitutional amendments that it claims are aimed at curtailing the independence of the judiciary, with the government repudiating the charge. The party has also been trying to mobilize supporters through protests and public gatherings to pressure the government for the release of Khan, who has been in prison since August last year and faces a slew of legal challenges.
Almost all main arteries leading to the capital were sealed off with shipping containers on Friday ahead of the protests while mobile phone services were also suspended. Mobile phone services were restored in some parts of the capital on Sunday afternoon.
“Constable Abdul Hameed Shah of the Islamabad police, who was injured during last night’s PTI protest in the federal capital, passed away while receiving medical treatment in the hospital,” Muhammad Taqi Jawad, Islamabad Police spokesperson, told Arab News.
“Miscreants kept torturing police constable Shah after abducting him,” he added.
An undated file photo of Constable Abdul Hameed Shah. (Photo courtesy:
@ICT_Police/ X)
Jawad said Shah was posted at 26 Chungi area in the capital from where he was abducted by protesters. A resident of the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, Shah joined Islamabad Police in 1988 and was serving in its investigation wing.
He was set to retire in three months upon completing his police service, Jawad said.
Speaking about the current situation in the federal capital, the police spokesperson said protesters who had entered Islamabad with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur have left, adding that there is no sit-in protest happening in the city currently.
“No protesters are in Islamabad right now and the roads are partially opened,” he said.
Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Shah’s killing, blaming the PTI for violent protests.
“PTI always adopted the path of violence under the guise of protest,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“The prime minister has directed to bring all people involved in the incident to justice.”
GANDAPUR ‘ABDUCTION’
Tensions between the government and the PTI escalated on Saturday after the paramilitary Rangers force stormed KP’s administration office in Islamabad, leading to the party saying that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a close Khan aide who was leading a large caravan of supporters in Islamabad, had been “kidnapped.”
“Release CM KP Ali Amin Khan Gandapur immediately,” Omar Ayub Khan, a senior PTI leader, wrote on social media platform X on Saturday. “His abduction from KP House is blatant terrorism.”
When asked about an update regarding the chief minister’s whereabouts, his secretary Zarwali Khan told Arab News: “Nothing yet.”
Speaking to reporters after attending Shah’s funeral prayers, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denied the PTI’s allegations that the KP chief minister had been abducted by police or intelligence agencies.
“Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Gandapur is neither in our [Islamabad Police] custody nor is he in the custody of any other Pakistani institution,” he said.
Naqvi said the capital police conducted three raids at various locations on Saturday night where they suspected Gandapur was present, adding that he was not found there.
“We still have blockades at certain points in the city and are actively searching for him,” Naqvi said.
The minister told reporters he had pictures of Gandapur fleeing from the main door of one of the locations police raided last night to apprehend him.
“He himself is on the run and I don’t know why he is on the run,” Naqvi said.” But definitely if he is in Islamabad territory, Islamabad police will deal with him as per law as they are definitely searching for him.”
Naqvi said all blockades from the city’s main arteries would be removed in the next couple of hours.
As tensions in Islamabad continue to remain high, the KP Assembly Speaker summoned an emergency session of the assembly on Sunday, which had earlier been adjourned till Monday.