Lahore, Nov 4 (IANS) PTI Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that four people plotted to kill him, stating that the "handlers" were taking the decisions at the back but the people were turning out to his rallies in record numbers, a media report said.
"Four people plotted to kill me. I made a video and named those people and have stashed it abroad," Khan said, adding that it would be released in case something happens, Dawn reported.
He indicated that he received the information of this plot through the relationships he had formed while in power.
In his first address since the assassination attempt on him in Gujranwala on Thursday, in which Khan sustained bullet injuries in his leg, the PTI chief stated that he was aware of the plot to kill him.
"I'll come to the details of the attack later. I got to know the day before [the attack] that either in Wazirabad of Gujrat, they planned to kill me," he said, Dawn reported.
The former Prime Minister said that Pakistan's own agencies were not allowing democratic processes to continue.
"During the by-elections in July, all the state machinery was used, rigging was done, but PTI swept the elections. What happened next was that more pressure and threats were given. A handler came to Islamabad -- Major General Faisal -- and he said that he will show how to straighten them [PTI] out," Khan alleged, Dawn reported.
"More strictness started on media and journalists favouring PTI. Our MPAs were approached, scared and threatened to abandon me... they threatened to release inappropriate videos and blackmailed them."
Khan said that his party wasn't "made by the establishment" like the PPP and the PML-N, asserting that he came to power with the people's support, Dawn reported.
"The way the people supported me, I was surprised... we announced a long march on May 25. They staged three marches during our tenure. We thought the law and Constitution permitted us [to stage a protest].
"We thought they would give us permission because we have given them permission, he said. But instead they subjected our workers and leaders to violence.
"They shelled families in Islamabad... they thought the party would end but they didn't understand the [sentiments of the] nation because when decisions are made in closed rooms, you don't know what is happening," Khan said.
On the seventh anniversary of the Oak Creek gurdwara mass shooting, over half a dozen lawmakers pledged to continue to advocate for stricter gun control laws and comprehensive background checks.
After Pakistani crew halted the Samjhauta Express at the Wagah border on Thursday, citing security concerns, Indian crew and guard escorted the train to Attari on the Indian side, a railway spokesperson said.
On Tuesday, pro-India banners appeared in different parts of the Pakistani capital, including in the high-security Red Zone, hailing India’s move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jammat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed was declared guilty of “terror financing” by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in a Pakistani court on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s decision to suspend bilateral trade ties with India would hit the neighbouring country more as they import essential items, according to experts.
