BAJAUR: Khar tehsil council chairman and JUI-F senior leader Haji Said Badshah was injured along with his two companions in a landmine explosion here on Monday.

Police said that the incident occurred in the hilly Chinar area of Salarzai tehsil at about 9:30 am. They said that the vehicle of Haji Said Badshah was hit by a landmine planted along the roadside.

DPO Abdul Samad Khan told journalists that the tehsil nazim and his two companions, including his police guard, were injured in the blast. He said that investigations were under way to trace the elements behind the attack. However, he said that it was not known immediately as to who was the actual target of the blast.

An official of the Rescue 1122 told Dawn that a team of medical workers immediately reached the area and shifted all the injured to the district headquarters hospital in Khar for treatment after providing first aid to them.

Leaders of different parties demand arrest of perpetrators

He said that five people were travelling in the vehicle at the time of blast. He said that two of them remained unhurt in the explosion, which also damaged the vehicle.

The news of the incident spread like wildfire in the district and scores of residents of Khar and JUI-F workers reached hospital to know about the conditions of wounded and donate blood. A team of officials, led by DPO Abdul Samad Khan and Additional Deputy Commissioner Zohib Hayat, also visited the hospital and enquired after the injured.

The officials were told by the doctors that condition of wounded persons was stable. They said that they would be discharged from the hospital.

Haji Said Badshah, who is also the district chief of JUI-F, told journalists before being discharged from the hospital in the afternoon, that it was a powerful blast. People from different walks of life condemned attack on the Khar tehsil chairman.

PML-N vice president and former MNA Shahabuddin Khan, PPP leader and former lawmaker Sayed Akhunzada Chattan, Provincial Minister for Social Welfare Anwarzeb Khan, PTI MNA Guldad Khan, Gul Zafar Khan, JI MPA Sirajuddin Khan, JUI-F leader Maulana Abdur Rasheed, ANP district president Gul Afzal Khan and JI leader Qari Abdul Majeed condemned the incident in their statements and asked the authorities to bring the perpetrators to book immediately.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2022