Punjab police says will prove May 9 violence was planned

LAHORE (NNI): Inspector General (IG) Punjab Police Usman Anwar said that they will prove in the court that May 9 violence was planned.
While addressing a press conference Inspector General (IG) Punjab Police Usman Anwar said that specific targets were selected on May 9 by the rioters and Punjab police will prove that the riots were carried out through proper planning.
He said that calls data for May 9 and March 9 is being collected, the data showed that PTI leader Yasmin Rashid made 41 calls and 154 calls on May 9 and March 8 are similar. IG Punjab revealed that the attacks on Jinnah House, GHQ, Radio Pakistan and other prominent public buildings were carried out at the same time.
He said that so far 101 Jinnah House rioters have been identified and 18 are arrested. He claimed that a total of fours people were dead and they died because of their bullets. One person died as the ambulance couldn’t reach the hospital as a result of May 9 violence.
The suspects who were carrying out violence had bullets and the police were unarmed, he added. The head of Punjab Police further said that they have been accused of torturing the senior journalist and anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan but the reports will be submitted to the court.
Raids are being conducted to arrest the PTI leaders, Hammad Azhar and Aslam Iqbal, he added. Violent clashes broke out across Pakistan after the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan were arrested at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday. The protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers are agitated due to their chairman’s arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order.
Army installations and Corps Commander’s house in Lahore came under attack during a protest by PTI workers.
It was also reported that Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Ali Nasir Rizvi sustained severe injuries while clearing.