BAHAWALPUR: Three persons were injured in a firing incident on Friday ahead of a rally to be held at Baqirpur in connection with the election campaign of an independent candidate, Wali Dad Cheema, contesting NA-168 by-poll.
Baqirpur, a suburban locality, is considered a stronghold of the PML-N candidate, Malik Munir Iqbal Channar. Wali Dad is son of former PML-Q federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema, who is an MNA.
As per Rescue 1122 sources, during Cheema’s election rally, a clash occurred between the supporters of the rival candidates, and some of them resorted to firing, resulting in injuries to three persons.
On receipt of information about the firing incident, Bahawalpur DPO Rana Abdul Wahab also reached the scene.
MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema, his candidate son remain safe; demand probe into ‘attack’
A district police spokesperson says the DPO was at the scene and action against the culprits would be taken after a thorough investigation, which was in progress.
He claimed that the situation was under control and evidence was being collected from the crime scene by police and other law-enforcing agencies.
Dawn has learnt that Cheema was to hold a rally in a ground at Baqirpur on Friday, but on reaching the venue, his supporters found it submerged.
Cheema group accused the rival Munir Channar and his brother Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Zaher Iqbal Channar of conspiring to disrupt their rally by getting water released in the ground. This led to an exchange of hot words between the supporters of Cheema and Channar.
The sources say that the firing incident occurred when MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema reached there.
There are also reports of members of rival groups hitting each other with bricks and chairs after the firing.
It was alleged that Tariq Cheema and his son were the target of the firing, but they remained safe.
Meanwhile, MNA Tariq Cheema has demanded the DPO to investigate the firing incident and take action against the attackers, otherwise, he would hold protest rallies in the city.
No FIR had been registered till the filing of the story.
The DPO was quoted as saying that the firing incident was being investigated and all facts would be made public shortly.
The by-poll in NA-168 is scheduled for Sep 27. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PML-N MNA Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar, whose son Munir Iqbal is now the ruling party candidate.
MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema, whose son Walidad Cheema is contesting NA-168 by-election, said DPO Rana Abdul Wahab had assured him that the suspects of today’s firing would be arrested by tomorrow (Saturday).
Cheema told media that in case firing culprits were not arrested, protest to be launched in the city.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission Of Pakistan (ECP) has taken notice of firing at an election really of independent candidate. The ECP has sort report of firing from the provincial election commissioner and district monitoring officer. The ECP has also ordered the arrest of the suspects.
Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2026
