- Friday, March 07, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The man who is believed to have shot at former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan at a rally in Gujranwala in the Punjab province on Thursday (3) said he had come to kill the latter because he believed that he was “misleading” people.
The 70-year-old Khan, a former cricketer, was declared out of danger after he received injury in his leg at the political rally in Wazirabad near Gujranwala, located about 100 kilometres from Lahore.
The shooter in custody of Punjab police saying: I wanted to kill Imran Khan because he is misleading the people. Also says, "they were playing music while it was time for azaan." pic.twitter.com/Tp143qbfja
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) November 3, 2022
“Sirf Imran Khan ko maarna tha (I came only to kill Imran Khan),” the alleged shooter, who was arrested after the incident after supporters of Khan tackled him, said on camera.
“I did this because he was misleading people. I couldn’t take it. I had decided to do this the day he started the rally,” he said in the video which was apparently recorded by the police.
He also said he had acted alone.
“Nobody was behind me, nobody is with me,” he told reporters.
The alleged shooter also said he had come to Wazirabad on a motorcycle and had left it at his uncle’s shop.
Reports, however, suggest that there were two shooters, one armed with a pistol and another with an automatic rifle.
Khan, who heads Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has been leading a march between Lahore and capital Islamabad since last Friday (28), seeking fresh elections after being ousted from the prime minister’s post in April.
“This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him,” Khan’s senior aide Raoof Hasan was quoted as telling AFP.
He claimed one alleged attacker was shot dead while the other was taken into police custody.
During his “long march”, Khan mounted a shipping container towed by a lorry, making speeches from the open to crowds along the way.
