JHELUM: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Sunday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Rs270 crore to sabotage his protest movement, DawnNews reported.

The PTI chairman made the allegation while addressing party supporters during a rally in Jhelum.

During his speech, Imran Khan also alleged that the PM gave the bureau the above mentioned money, to buy journalists and media houses.

“Where did all this money come from?,” the PTI chief asked.

“This is the public’s money which is being used,” he said.

During the speech Imran Khan spoke about the attack on PTI supporters earlier in the day and said that the government was using heavy handed tactics against his party workers.

“Till when will we Pakistani’s be ruled by these tyrants?...The time has come for us to fight for our rights as human beings," he said.

“The status quo will never allow change in this country… they use the police to attack protestors,” he said.

“The status quo has to be broken...I will not stop the protests until I get justice,” said Imran Khan.

“I will break the partnership of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari,” he said.

The PTI chairman also said that he will take his protest movement throughout the country.

“We will meet with the people of Sindh... The injustice in interior Sindh is unlike any other in Pakistan… We will break the chains of fear the people live under," he said.

Later the PTI chairman visited PTI workers in hospital who had been injured after being fired upon earlier in the day.

Firing at PTI workers enroute to Jhelum rally, 8 injured

Earlier on Sunday, Eight people were injured when gunmen opened fire at workers making their way to a PTI rally in Jhelum, police said.

The injured have been rushed to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Jhelum. Two of the eight are seriously injured.

Aqeel Ahmed, a technician at the emergency ward, told Dawn.com that one person in critical condition, who sustained a bullet injury in the chest, has been shifted to another hospital as the DHQ Jhelum does not have the facilities to treat him.

Ahmed said the remaining injured activists have sustained injuries in the lower limbs.

The incident took place in Gharmala, about 5 km away from the Syed Zameer Jaffery Stadium Jhelum — the venue set for the PTI's rally today — when large numbers of PTI workers were en route to the stadium.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the District Police Officer (DPO) Jhelum over the incident.

A large number of PTI activists have gathered outside the hospital where the injured have been taken.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan earlier this month announced rallies all over the country as part of his campaign to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against the backdrop of his party’s rigging allegations in the last year’s historic elections.

“An overwhelming majority in the PTI believes that the stage is set to further party’s popularity among the masses because it has been receiving a massive response from the people since the launching of Azadi March on Aug14,” a member of the committee had told Dawn earlier.