Lawmakers involved in Pak's Punjab assembly brawl likely to be held soon
Apr 18, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 18 : Pakistan police will likely arrest the lawmakers involved in a brawl that broke out in the Punjab Assembly on Saturday within the next 24 hours, reported local media.
The arrests will be made based on the CCTV records of the assembly seized by the Punjab police to identify the rioters, reported Geo News.
Notably, the police had earlier requested the Punjab assembly secretary for the CCTV footage of the incident, however, the secretary refused to release the video recordings.
According to the recordings, women lawmakers were also involved in attacking police personnel in the assembly, while the others identified through the video comprise several Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers including Fayyaz Chohan, Umer Tanveer, Rana Shahbaz, Khayal Ahmad Kastro, Mahinder Pall Singh, Wasiq Qayum Abbasi, Nawabzada Waseem, Abida Bibi, Momina Waheed, Zainab Umar, Shahida Ahmad, and Asia Amjad, according to the media outlet.
Further, the video recording clearly shows Punjab assembly staff allowing the PTI lawmakers to bring "lotas" (water pots) into the hall before the session began on Saturday.
Notably, violence broke out in the Punjab Assembly that gathered for the election of the Chief Minister on Saturday. Chaos ensued in the Assembly after the PTI and PML-Q lawmakers threw "lotas" at Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as he arrived to chair the session.
These lawmakers reportedly threw the plastic lotas at Mazari, while some of them dragged him by his hair and even thrashed him, following which, he was taken back to his chamber by the Assembly guards.
When police officials entered the assembly halls to tackle the situation, many then turned toward the cops and attacked them, reported Geo News.
Besides the police investigating the incident, Mazari has also constituted a nine-member committee to probe the incident separately, however, the assembly officials have refused to accept the committee's jurisdiction by terming it "unconstitutional".
