Protesters were paid to join protest with stones, petrol bombs: say detained PTI workers

During a press conference in Sialkot, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif showed the video confessions of detained PTI protesters and accused Imran Khan's party of launching a "third attack on the federation," which was successfully foiled by security forces.

He stated that while security personnel were martyred during the protest, no evidence of civilian casualties has been found to date.

Khawaja Asif said that no videos or reports of funeral ceremonies have surfaced.

“PTI leaders Salman Akram Raja, Latif Khosa, Ali Amin Gandapur and other leaders kept giving different numbers of deaths, some said 10, some 20 and even 278. Now this number has come down to single digits,” he added.

He also criticised PTI leadership for allegedly abandoning their supporters during the march and played video confessions of arrested protesters.

In these videos, the arrested suspects confessed to being recruited by the PTI leaders who paid them to join the protest. Stones were thrown at the security forces, and attacks were carried out.

When the protest turned violent, the PTI leaders themselves fled the scene with one of the detainee saying that PTI workers had stockpiled stones and petrol bombs.

The Defence Minister criticised PTI’s decision to head to D Chowk despite government prohibitions, stating, “Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur rejected alternative locations for the protest, even though foreign dignitaries were present in the Red Zone.”

He added that while Imran Khan initially agreed to change the location, Bushra Bibi refused.

He said that CM KP announced that the sit-in is ongoing "without people in it, only Gandapur can invent such a sit-in."

"These people should have at least attended the funeral prayers of the deceased and shared their pictures or videos," he added. 

Khawaja Asif praised police, Rangers, and security forces for their efforts, noting that many security personnel sustained injuries and are currently receiving medical treatment. He criticized 

He said that the manner in which PTI leaders ran away from the sit-in is unprecedented.