Deadlock persists over filing of FIR over attack on Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan

A deadlock persists over filing an FIR in connection with an assassination attempt on Imran Khan after the former prime minister refused to withdraw the name of a senior Pakistan Army officer from the complaint, which also carries the names of the prime minister and the interior minister.

Khan, 70, suffered a bullet injury in the right leg when two gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him and others mounting on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province, where he was leading a protest march against government.

Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, alleged that prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal Naseer were part of a sinister plot to assassinate him.


Meanwhile, Pakistan's electronic media watchdog on Saturday prohibited television channels from broadcasting or rebroadcasting Khan's speeches or media talks, saying airing such content would likely to create hatred among the people.

'Baseless Allegations'
The Pakistan Army has rejected as "baseless and irresponsible" the allegations made by Khan that one of its senior officers was among the people involved in the conspiracy to kill him. "Four people plotted to kill me. I made a video and named those people and have stashed it abroad," Khan said. The Army said: "The baseless and irresponsible allegations by [Khan] against the institution... are completely unacceptable..."