ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Monday that the situation was not as simple as was being considered about the Islamabad standoff incident.
A gunman, Sikandar, accompanied by his wife and children brought Islamabad to a standstill by waving two sub-machine guns and occasionally firing into the air on Thursday. The standoff that lasted for five hours eventually ended after Sikandar and his wife were shot and arrested when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Zamurd Khan lunged at him.
Speaking on the flood of the National Assembly on Monday, the interior minister said that there were some handlers of the gunman and the episode was leading the probe agencies to Abu Dhabi and some other figures whose name could not be revealed at this stage.
“International mobsters have been named by Sikander and initial findings conclude that he has some foreign handlers,” he said.
Nisar said that Sikander and his wife were in contact with some people through their mobile phones during the whole drama.
The interior minister informed the assembly that some arrests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have been made in connection with the Islamabad standoff incident.
Nisar said that a man was arrested in Azad Kashmir while two others were held in Hafizabad and Pasrur in Punjab. One who those arrested was a policeman at the Line of Control (LoC).
Moreover, the interior minister rejected the impression that the whole capital was hostage during the episode. However, he admitted lack of sufficient capabilities on the part of security apparatus to tackle the situation.
