LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday denied post-arrest bail to a prime suspect in the 2022 Wazirabad attack on PTI founding chairman Imran Khan.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Tariq Nadeem heard the bail petition of Muhammad Naveed.

During the proceedings, a prosecutor argued that the suspect was nominated in the FIR and arrested from the crime scene. He said the suspect was also identified through footage and eyewitnesses, who were present on the occurrence.

The prosecutor asked the bench to dismiss the bail plea, saying there was an ample evidence against the suspect.

On the other hand, suspect’s lawyer Mian Dawood argued that Naveed was not present at the scene and that the police included his name in the case without any justification.

He alleged that the eyewitnesses had told the police about an unidentified assailant, and there was no substantial evidence against his client. The lawyer asked the court to grant bail to the petitioner due to insufficient evidence.

However, the bench dismissed the bail petition.

In July 2023, the LHC had granted bail to Tayyab Jahangir Butt, a co-suspect in the Wazirabad attack.

On Nov 3, 2022, during PTI’s long march in the Wazirabad area of Punjab, a gunman opened fire, injuring former premier Imran Khan, Senator Faisal Javed, and several others, while one worker lost his life.

The PTI founding chairman had accused the then coalition government of PDM and some military officials of involvement in the attack. However, a case of the incident was registered on behalf of the police. The FIR was lodged on Nov 7, and a joint investigation team (JIT) was formed under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2024