Independent candidate shot dead while canvassing in Bajaur: police – Pakistan

Table of Contents

An independent candidate was shot dead in the Siddiqabad area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Wednesday, according to police.

The incident comes a day after four people were killed while six were wounded in a bomb blast at a PTI rally in Balochistan’s Sibi.

Khar Police Station House Officer (SHO) Rasheed Khan said Rehan Zeb Khan was canvassing in the area when unidentified armed men opened fire on his vehicle.

The cop said Rehan was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. According to the SHO, four other people were also injured in the attack.

Bajaur District Police Officer Kashif Zulfiqar told Dawn.com that the incident appeared to be a “targeted killing”. He said that law enforcement authorities were conducting a search operation in the area.

In response to today’s incident, the PTI said that Rehan was a party candidate for a National Assembly seat.

The lists released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) showed he was contesting as an independent candidate for NA-8 and PK-22. However, PTI records showed that Gul Zafar Khan was contesting from NA-8 and Gul Dad Khan was contesting from PK-22.

In a post on X, the PTI said Rehan was a “party candidate for a National Assembly seat” and strongly condemned the killing. It said that the fact that PTI-affiliated candidates and public gatherings were being targeted by “terrorist attacks” raised a “big question mark” on the fairness of polls.

“After the attack on PTI’s election rally in Sibi, the responsibility for the killing of the [party-backed] National Assembly candidate is on the incompetent caretaker government,” the party said.

The party demanded an immediate probe into the attack, adding that those responsible should be punished. It further stated that security should be provided to all PTI-backed candidates participating in the polls and called on the ECP to take notice of the incident.

It alleged that the caretaker government was focused on bringing one particular political party to power instead of discharging its constitutional responsibilities.

In a separate post, the party called on the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of today’s incident as well as yesterday’s blast at a PTI rally in Sibi.

PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan strongly condemned the killing and expressed concern that “an unacceptable plan is being made to break morale and push PTI out of the elections”.

PTI’s Hammad Azhar said that Rehan symbolised the country’s youth. Hammad said Rehan had wanted a better future for the people and was struggling in this regard.

Former provincial minister and party leader Taimur Khan Jhagra called Rehan Zeb a “die-hard PTI worker and aspirant”.

The ECP also took notice of the killing. Although it did not name Rehan, it said that it had taken notice of the killing of a candidate from NA-8 Bajaur.

The electoral watchdog sought a report from the KP chief secretary and police chief and directed that those responsible be punished.

Separately, in a media talk later in the day, the caretaker chief minister of KP said the provincial government was prepared for the upcoming general elections but at the same time admitted that there were security concerns in some areas.

He also directed the KP police chief to prepare a report on today’s incident within three days.

Source Link

Website | + posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content