Web Desk: A confrontation involving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmaker Fazal Shakoor Khan and law enforcement personnel was reported at a motorway checkpoint in Peshawar on Monday, with allegations that armed guards accompanying the MPA opened fire after the vehicle was stopped for inspection.
According to the account provided for the incident, law enforcement personnel, including police, stopped Shakoor’s vehicle at the checkpoint and sought to conduct a search. The guards allegedly refused to comply and opened fire toward the police.
The incident has drawn attention after footage circulated online purporting to show the detention of Shakoor on the motorway.
A separate account attributed to PTI MPA Abdul Ghani Afridi alleged that masked men in plain clothes stopped Shakoor’s official vehicle and fired at its tyres, causing damage to the vehicle. Those claims have not been independently verified.
The differing accounts underscore the need for authorities to establish what happened at the checkpoint, who initiated the confrontation and whether any shots were fired by the MPA’s security detail.
Shakoor is a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly representing PK-65, Charsadda-IV. The provincial assembly lists him as having been elected for a fourth consecutive term in the 2024 general election.
He has also served in the provincial cabinet in previous terms, including as law and parliamentary affairs minister.
The reported confrontation comes amid heightened political tensions surrounding PTI activities in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Political statements from PTI leaders have recently accused authorities of using state institutions against the party, while government representatives have said law enforcement action is aimed at maintaining public order and enforcing court directives.
Claims that the current incident was connected to those wider political tensions remain allegations unless established by an official investigation.
The reported exchange raises questions over the circumstances of the checkpoint stop, the conduct of the security personnel accompanying the lawmaker and whether weapons were discharged.
Authorities would need to establish the sequence of events through eyewitness accounts, available video footage, police records and any other evidence before responsibility for the reported gunfire can be determined.
Read more:
