Man held for aerial firing near Minister Attaullah Tarar's vehicle

• Suspect arrested with weapon, vehicle seized.
• Safe City technology aided suspect’s arrest.
• Tarar says he was not targeted.

LAHORE: Police have arrested a young man accused of aerial firing near Information Minister Attaullah Tarar's vehicle in Lahore's Defence area after tracking him down using Safe City surveillance and modern technology.

According to police, the suspect overtook the minister's vehicle and fired five shots into the air before fleeing.

He was later arrested along with the weapon allegedly used in the incident, while his vehicle was also taken into custody. Police said the incident occurred in Defence-A on Friday night.

FIR registered

An FIR has been registered at Lahore's Defence-A police station late Sunday after the incident unfolded.

The case was lodged on the complaint of a police official, according to the police.

The FIR states that the case was registered against a youth driving a car at full throttle who allegedly fired into the air before attempting to flee.

According to the FIR, police responded to a call reporting aerial firing from a speeding vehicle. When officers gave him chase, the driver broke through a barrier and fled, the FIR states.

One of the shots also struck a nearby wall, the FIR states, adding police later recovered four spent 9mm cartridge cases from the scene.

Police later tracked down and arrested the suspect with the weapon allegedly used in the incident. The vehicle involved was also taken into custody, according to a spokesperson for the DIG Operations.

Speaking about the incident, Tarar said he was travelling with his family when a car passed his vehicle from the left and the young man fired five shots. He said they followed the vehicle and alerted police at a checkpoint.

The information minister clarified that the suspect did not target him directly and had only resorted to aerial firing. He added that police were taking legal action over the incident.

The incident comes two days after Azad Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Raja Akmal said that authorities received reports of firing on the convoy of former AJK prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.

In a statement on Friday, the police officer said that further investigations were underway and action would be taken against those responsible for the firing.

Ilyas' spokesperson said in a Facebook post that the firing took place in the Tain-Dhalkot area, where Ilyas' guard, Muhammad Asif, was killed, while several others travelling in the convoy sustained injuries.

This incident came ahead of the July 27 elections for the region's 53-member Legislative Assembly.