Received orders to assassinate Ahsan Iqbal in a dream, suspect Abid tells police

NAROWAL: An initial investigation report on the failed assassination attempt at Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has revealed startling details of how the primary suspect, Abid Hussain, planned the attack.

The report, obtained by Geo News on Monday, suggests that the main accused, Abid Hussain, 21, planned out the attack on the interior minister with careful deliberation.

According to the report, Abid told police that he had a dream where he received orders to assassinate Ahsan Iqbal. He wrote down his thoughts in a diary over the past three or four months.

The accused confirmed details of Ahsan Iqbal’s scheduled arrival at the venue of the corner meeting in Narowal by contacting the organisers of the event. He then got a haircut, dressed up, and called over his neighbour Azeem Ashraf, the other suspect in the case.

Abid reached Kanjrur, the venue of the meeting, on a motorcycle at around 4:30pm. When he got his chance, he fired a 30 bore pistol at the interior minister from close proximity. One of the elite force personnel grabbed the assailant as soon as he took out the weapon. He misfired, and the bullet brushed past Ahsan Iqbal’s shoulder and hit him in the abdomen.

Ahsan Iqbal is currently under treatment in Lahore. 

Abid, as per the report, bought the weapon used in the incident from a local named Kashif five months ago, after scraping together Rs15,000. Two or three months later, he bought 50 rounds of bullets from a man named Sabeel in exchange for Rs1,800.

Following the shooting, police personnel got hold of Abid but Azeem, the other suspect, managed to escape.

Abid is unemployed and has been educated till matric. In his statement to the police, he said he was impressed by Maulana Ashraf Asif Jalali and Khadim Hussain Rizvi. He spent one and a half month in Dubai in 2016. His father is a labourer.

The primary suspect was presented before an anti-terrorism court on Monday and was handed over to the police on a 10-day physical remand.

The Punjab government earlier today reconstituted a joint investigation team (JIT), an hour after it was formed, to probe the attack on Ahsan Iqbal. The new JIT will be convened by Additional Inspector General Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir, and will include SSP Gujranwala Khalid Bashir Cheema, Counter Terrorism Team Gujranwala SP Faisal Gulzar Awan and one official each of the Intelligence Bureau and Inter-Services Intelligence.