The prime suspect of the case of attempted assassination of former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, Abid Hussain, was sentenced to 27 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala on Saturday.

The accused was further sentenced to three years in prison for the illegal possession of weapons, but the court acquitted four other suspects accused of facilitating the assailant in the gun attack.

On May 6, 2018, 21-year-old Hussain shot Ahsan Iqbal from a distance of 15 yards as the latter entered his vehicle to leave the rally ground in his Narowal constituency. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was injured in the attack.

The former minister sustained a bullet wound in his shoulder, while the attacker was overpowered before he could fire a second shot. Police arrested the suspect from the site of the attack, seizing his weapon—a 30-bore pistol with nine bullets—and shifting him to a police station. Abid confessed to the crime in custody.