Gilani family says unidentified men had been following Abdul Qadir Gilani on motorcycles since the abduction of Haider Gilani

Victim Tahir’s family says brothers were going to deliver sacrificial meat to their brother’s house

A murder case has been registered against the eldest son of Pakistan’s former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after his gunmen opened fire at two young men for accidently hitting the politician’s SUV with their motorcycle in the city’s Defence area on Wednesday night, killing one of them.

According to the victim’s family, brothers Tahir Malik and Waheed Malik were going to their brother’s house to deliver sacrificial meat when their motorcycle hit the Toyota Land Cruiser (Reg No MIW 5555) driven by Abdul Qadir Gilani in Z Block of Defence. Qadir’s gunmen quickly drew their weapons and fired at the two men, killing Tahir on the spot. The entourage then fled towards the Gilanis’ family house in Defence, leaving Waheed to mourn over his brother’s dead body.

Tahir’s family and locals later gathered at the crime scene and refused to leave until a case was registered against the scion of the powerful political family. The family was joined by activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who were staging a sit-in at Lalik Chowk.

Initially the police was reluctant to register a case against Abdul Qadir Gilani and his gunmen but as pressure grew, the Defence A Police Station registered a case (FIR No 918) under Section 302, 7-ATA and Section 109 relating to conspiracy of murder, against Abdul Qadir Gilani and his unidentified gunmen on the complaint of the victim’s father.

Lahore DIG Operations Haider Ashraf told Pakistan Today that the police had registered the case as per the application filed by the family.

“Due course of law will be followed and those guilty will be brought to book no matter how influential they may be,” he said.

GILANI WAS UNDER THREAT:

Meanwhile, the Gilani family has claimed that Abdul Qadir had been receiving threats from unidentified people since his younger brother Haider Gilani’s abduction by the Taliban, and that unknown men had been following his vehicle on motorcycles for the last several days.

“The motorcyclist was killed in an exchange of fire between Abdul Qadir’s gunmen and those unidentified men,” the family claimed.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also taken notice of the incident and directed the Lahore police chief to act against the culprits according to law.

Abdul Qadir Gilani was elected to the Punjab Provincial Assembly on a Pakistan People’s Party ticket from PP-295 Rahim Yar Khan in the 2008 elections.