LAHORE: At least 15 members of the Punjab Assembly, including Q-League leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, besides his private security chief, former secretary of the assembly Mohammad Khan Bhatti and others have been identified as prime suspects during an initial investigation into the assault on Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari and law enforcers during the Saturday session marred by unprecedented violence.

On the ‘order’ of Speaker Elahi who was contesting chief minister’s election that Deputy Speaker Mazari was to conduct on a court directive, former SP and retired Major Faisal allegedly brought some private men, wearing PA’s security department officials uniform, into the House, according to the police investigations.

An official privy to the development told Dawn that footage examined by the investigators showed that retired Maj Faisal, who was chief security officer of Mr Elahi, entered along with some other men in the uniform of Punjab Assembly security department officials.

Explaining his old association with the Chaudhrys of Gujarat, the official said on Mr Elahi’s recommendation, he had been hired in the Punjab police some 15 years ago on a contract basis. Later when his contract was terminated during the PML-N rule, Mr Elahi hired him as his chief security officer. Since then he had been serving the Chaudhrys, the official explained.

Investigators spot 15 MPAs, including Parvez Elahi, his security chief and former assembly secretary in footage

Deputy Speaker Mazari and police investigations also marked many other people including 14 MPAs besides Mr Elahi and the then secretary of the assembly Mohammad Khan Bhatti as the prime suspects in the investigations.

According to the documents (a copy is also available with Dawn), the 14 MPAs included Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders Umar Tanveer, Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi, Malik Taimoor Masood, Khayyal Ahmad Kastro, Mohammad Waris Aziz, Umar Farooq, Shahbaz Ahmad, Malik Nadeem Abbas, Mahinder Pall Singh, Moha­mmad Rizwan, Mohammad Nadeem Qureshi, Mohammad Ali Raza Khan Khakwani, Ejaz Khan and Shujahat Nawaz of the PML-Q.

They allegedly thrashed, manhandled and tortured Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari in the Punjab Assembly. “These suspects thrashed Mr Mazari and beat up him using kicks and fists in a bid to kill him,” reads an official document.

Some security staff and the PML-N leaders rescued him amid strong resistance, it said, adding that Mr Elahi, Mr Bhatti, special secretary Amir Habib, secretary coordination Anayatullah, security officer Sardar Akbar Nasir and retired Major Faisal entered along with several unidentified private men.

They attacked and thrashed many provincial lawmakers, the document stated, adding that the suspects blatantly violated the law of land bringing disgrace/shame for the sanctity of the provincial assembly.

Talking about the police investigation into the case registered against over the dozen lawmakers and other private men on Saturday night, the official disclosed that the police had collected footage of the incident to identify all the suspects who took law into hand.

The FIR was registered on a complaint of DSP Shahzad Manzoor at the Qilla Gujjar Singh Police Station against unidentified persons.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2022