ISLAMABAD: Former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri got a case registered with Kohsar police station after a group of people attacked him and his friends in the early hours of Friday.

According to the police, two friends of Mr Suri sustained injuries, however, he himself remained unhurt.

A police officer told Dawn that Mr Suri and his guests were sitting in the restaurant when some people reached there in different vehicles and started chanting slogans against them and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Both sides exchanged words after which they started throwing cutlery and chairs at each other.

The restaurant staff and other families intervened and forced the attackers to leave, the officer said.

Mr Suri approached Kohsar police station and got a case registered against the attackers.

According to the FIR, Mr Suri came over to Kohsar Market in F-6/3 for Sehri. Three persons - Adil Mirza, Rafiq and Khalid Bhatti - were sitting with him on a table while Dr Arif and some women were on another table.

At around 12:50am, 15 to 20 people reached there and started chanting slogans against the PTI, the FIR said, adding that, “they then attacked Mr Suri and his guests with batons with an intention to kill them”.

People present there were terrorised due to the attack and Dr Arif and Khalid Bhatti sustained injuries. Onlookers intervened and saved them from the attackers.

Shortly afterwards, the attackers escaped from the spot in two double cabin vehicles, the FIR added.

Another police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that four complaints were lodged with the police about the incident. The police registered a case against one of the four complaints, he added.

In this regard, the daily diary known asRoznamchaof the police station was closed for several hours and it was reopened only after one of the complaints was chosen for the FIR, the officer added.

Station House Officer (SHO) Tipu Sultan, when contacted, said the police registered a case and initiated legal proceedings. Medical of the injured have been conducted and reports are awaited, he added.

So far, the attackers have not been identified, he added.

In a tweet, Mr Suri said hooligans of the PML-N attacked him and his guests at a restaurant.

Former ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Asad Umar condemned the incident and said it was a cowardly act.

“Public events of the last two days are a stark reminder of the massive political upheaval faced by the nation,” Mr Umar tweeted.

Mr Qureshi said such tactics would not deter voices raised in protest against the “imported government”.

Another senior police officer told Dawn that vigilance had further been beefed up around Parliament Lodges as well as the residences of the MNAs and PTI leaders. Majority of the ministers of the PTI government have vacated the residences at the ministers’ enclave and shifted to the lodges where security has already been strengthened, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2022