LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Yasin, who survived an attempt on his life a day earlier, was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) following a surgery Saturday morning, the doctors said.
His condition is reported to be stable as he recovered in the hospital.
Dr Ahmed Fayyaz Bajwa, an orthopaedic surgeon who operated the former minister, said Yasin was shot in the abdomen and in the hip bone.
“The recovery may take up to nine months,” Dr Bajwa told the media, adding a panel of doctors would assess his condition after two days and decide about shifting him to the general ward of the facility.
Meanwhile, Lahore police registered a case against unidentified men on the MPA’s complaint at Data Darbar police station under Sections 34 (common intention) and 324 (attempted murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The FIR said Yasin was visiting PML-N worker Mian Ikram Kami’s house along with another person. The three were talking outside Kami’s residence when two unidentified individuals approached them on a motorcycle, mounted off and fired at Yasin with intent to kill.
According to the FIR, Yasin requested for action to be taken against the culprits and said they were around 20 to 25 years of age, adding that he would be able to identify them if they were presented before him.
Later in the day, PML-N leaders Ayaz Sadiq and Rana Tanveer Hussain, and MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool visited Yasin at the hospital.
Sadiq said Yasin was a “man of the people” and the attack on him was regrettable. He questioned why the culprits were still not caught despite CCTV cameras installed in the city. “The administration should have traced the culprits overnight,” he said.
“Such an attack on any citizen is inappropriate,” he added.
Yasin said he was unaware of the identities of his assailant and that at the time of the attack he was going around his constituency as he routinely did.
Incident:
Yasin was critically injured in an apparent assassination attempt Friday evening when two unidentified men on a motorcycle opened fire on the provincial lawmaker.
He was immediately taken to Mayo Hospital where Medical Superintendent Dr Iftikhar Qureshi said he was under treatment and his condition was out of danger.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and ordered Lahore police chief Fayyaz Ahmed to arrest the suspects and submit a report at the earliest.
He also directed the provision of the best medical treatment to the lawmaker.
A police statement said Ahmed issued directives for the immediate arrest of the attackers who had covered their faces.
