Police officers in Pakistan's Punjab province suspended for leaking confession of Imran's attacker
Former Pakistan PM
Lahore (PTI): Police officers and other officials in Pakistan's Punjab province have been suspended by chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for leaking the suspected attacker's confessional statement after the gun attack on former prime minister Imran Khan.
Khan, 70, sustained a bullet injury on his leg when a gunman opened fire on Thursday on the container-mounted truck carrying him during his protest march, killing one person, but the former Pakistan prime minister was out of danger in what his party claimed was an "assassination attempt."
Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has taken notice of leaking the suspected attacker's confessional statement after the gun attack on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan during the long march, ARY News reported on Thursday.
Elahi ordered Inspector General (IG) Punjab police to take disciplinary action against the irresponsible officials. After the leaking of the suspect's confessional statement, the Station House Officer (SHO) and other officials of the concerned police station were suspended, the report added.
The chief minister said in a statement that all mobile phones of the police station's staffers were confiscated and they will be sent for a forensic audit.
Elahi issued directives to hold an inquiry into the incident of the video leak of the suspected attacker. He directed IG Punjab to begin a probe to ascertain the motives of the gun attack.
The directives were issued in an emergency session chaired by the Punjab Chief Minister on Thursday.
The assailant, who opened fire at Khan during the party's long march, has confessed to the crime, saying that the former premier was his only target.
In a video statement available with ARY News, the attacker said he was planning the assassination attempt ever since Imran left Lahore. I tried my best to kill him. I wanted to kill Imran Khan only and no one else, he added.
The incident occurred near Allahwala Chowk of Wazirabad town in Punjab when Khan was leading the long march to Islamabad demanding early elections.
Asad Umar, the senior leader of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told the media that a bullet hit Khan's leg.
Khan underwent surgery at Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore and his condition is stable, his party leader Omar Ayub Khan said.
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8 dead, dozens wounded in Russian strike on Ukraine's Odesa port
Kyiv (AP): Eight people were killed and 27 wounded in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, late on Friday, Ukraine's Emergency Service said on Saturday morning.
Some of the wounded were on a bus at the epicentre of the overnight strike, the service said in a Telegram post. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot, and cars were also damaged.
The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.
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Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces hit a Russian warship and other facilities with drones, Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement on Saturday.
The nighttime attack on Friday hit the Russian warship “Okhotnik,” according to the statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.
The ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage is still being clarified, the statement added.
A drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea was also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
