GUJRAT: At least six nominated suspects, including runner-up candidate Qamar Khan in PP-68 Malakwal, who were booked in a case of alleged kidnap bid of MPA- elect Gulraiz Afzal Chan (PTI), on Wednesday got interim bail from the court of additional district and sessions judge.

The police had booked more than 100 suspects, including Qamar Khan, his brothers Samar Khan, Zahoor Khan and cousin Moin Khan, who are councillors of Malakwal Municipal Committee, Mandi Bahauddin district.

The case was registered on the complaint of MPA Gulraiz Chan on charges of making an attempt to kidnap him as well as damaging five vehicles incurring loss to the tune of some Rs3 million.

Qamar Khan and five others filed their bail applications with the Malakwal additional district and sessions judge who granted the interim bail till Aug 10. The remaining suspects in the case are unidentified who, as per the complainant, have been the supporters of Qamar Khan.

Gulraiz Chan obtained 37,904 votes and won the seat against independently contesting Qamar Khan’s 35,727 votes with the PML N’s Mahfooz Shah Mushhadi, ex MPA, standing third.

Talking to Dawn, Mr. Khan denied the charges levelled against him and his supporters.

He said [actually] it were the supporters of the MPA-elect who started chanting slogans on seeing MNA-elect Nasir Bosal group’s men who retaliated against the Chan group as he (Qamar) did not have any role in the incident which the MPA-elect knew very well but the latter had intentionally nominated him in what he termed a fabricated case only due to the reason that “I dared to contest against Chan group as an independent candidate,” said Mr. Khan.

He alleged that he was defeated through rigging against which he had already filed an application for recounting and the MPA group wanted to pressurise him through such negative tactics [of fake cases].

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018