PM’s nephew flees before police raid

LAHORE             -           Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nephew Hassan Khan Niazi fled from his house in the provincial capital shortly before a police raid on Friday. Police sources said a special team, headed by a DSP-rank officer, raided the house of Hassan. “But, he was not present there,” an official of the Investigation Wing said, requesting anonymity. The young lawyer is among 250 suspects who are wanted to the police in connection with the brazen assault on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC). Police identified Hassan from the CCTV footage of the attack although his name was not mentioned in the FIRs. Hassan was leading a group of lawyers who attacked the hospital. A police investigator said that Hassan had also switched off his mobile phone, but police were using different methods to catch him. “The police are actively working on this case,” he said. Hundreds of lawyers forced their entry into the largest cardiac hospital of the province on Wednesday, and allegedly assaulted the staff and vandalised the property. The protesters also set a police vehicle on fire besides damaging cars of doctors. The lawyers attacked the hospital after relations between them and doctors soured following a scuffle at the hospital last month. Police lodged two separate FIRs against more than 250 protesting lawyers under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and several other sections of the law. According to one of the FIRs, three patients died on hospital beds as doctors and paramedical staff ran to safety during the attack. According to the FIR, the protesters also smashed valuable equipment besides creating terror at the hospital premises. As a result of the rampage, the treatment facility was suspended to many patients and three of them died on the hospital beds.

 

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