Pervez Khattak's caravan crosses Burhan interchage; faces shelling

BURHAN: Police personnel fired tear gas shells as a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) caravan led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak crossed Burhan interchange on their way to their destination, Bani Gala.

The caravan, which was stopped earlier at Haroonabad bridge, managed to reach the Asia’s largest Motorway Interchange by removing all obstacles.

Talking to ARY News, Khattak said that he has crossed Burhan but it took him four hours to overcome obstacles put by the administration on its way to Burhan.

The KP CM accused the Punjab government of resorting to illegal means to restrict citizens’ movement within their own country.

“Are we to take visa from them,” asked Khattak.

Earlier in the day, police resorted to tear gas shelling at hundreds of PTI workers led by Khattak as they tried to cross the Haroonabad Bridge in a bid to enter Punjab from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Television footage showed PTI workers and police officials struggling after police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) used tear gas shells to disperse protesters making their way into Islamabad from KPK.

The move forced PTI chief Imran Khan to ask his supporters to rescue Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak from Punjab police.

“(I) want all PTI workers and democratic people of KP to go to Haroonabad bridge and support brave CM and his entourage being shelled by Punjab police,” he wrote on his Twitter account.

The PTI chief expressed pity how the Punjab government is treating CM KP and termed it a violation of the constitution.

3. Shameful how KP CM under attack by Punjab govt. Constitution being violated shamelessly by federal and Punjab govts.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 31, 2016