GUJRAT: Police have finally registered a case of murder attempt and kidnapping of a former provincial minister and PML-N ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood against seven nominated and six unidentified suspects belonging to the Ranian group.

Ijaz Ranian, a former candidate of PML-Q and TLP from Punjab Assembly constituency of Dinga area of Gujrat district, his brother Ikhlaq Ranian, his son Numan Ranian, Zeeshan are among the seven nominated.

Kunjah police have registered the case against the suspects under sections 324, 365, 395, 148 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code on the report of Chaudhry Fiaz Ahmed, an ASI of the same police station.

Gujrat District Police Officer Syed Ali Mohsin told Dawn that main suspect Numan Iklhaq Ranian and one of his accomplices had been arrested after the registration of case which had been lodged late on Tuesday night.

However, Sher Afghan, the former vice chairman of Gujrat district council and scion of the ex-MPA Mian Tariq, told this correspondent that his father was still under treatment in the hospital along with the two other injured men including his father’s security guard Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Ilyas, the host of the inaugural ceremony at Chak Pindi [from where his father had been kidnapped].

Adding he said that it was a well-planned attack by their political rivals but the police had not registered the case as per his injured father’s application.

Mian Tariq was allegedly kidnapped by his political rivals on Monday after the attackers shot at and injured his guard and also tortured the host of the ceremony [arranged for the inauguration of the cement block factory] who both tried to save Mr Tariq after which the suspects took ex-MPA to their outhouse in Ranian village where they brutally tortured him, shaved his head and made a footage.

However, the suspects later on threw him near canal bridge of Jaura village and also tortured him in front of the people.

Meanwhile, a number of local political leaders from different parties including ex-MNA Malik Hanif Awan, Mian Fakhar Pagganwala and Tahir Zaman Kaira of the PPP, Dr Tariq Saleem and Syed Ziaullah Shah of Jamaati-i-Islami inquired after the ex-MPA at Aziz Bhatti Shaheed teaching hospital.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2019