The former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur has said that his security has been withdrawn on Tuesday.
Gandapur said his security detail from Peshawar has been withdrawn while his police detail in his native Dera Ismail Khan district is also available.
It was not immediately clear who ordered the withdrawal of the security from Peshawar. Chief minister Sohail Afridi’s press secretary has denied that orders to this effect were issued.
According to the sources, a 16-member security squad assigned to Gandapur was recalled late last night. The contingent comprised two jammer operators, eight gunmen and six drivers, who had been working in shifts. All personnel belonged to the police department.
Of them, 14 officials had been deployed for Gandapur’s security, while two were assigned to his brother, MNA Faisal Amin Gandapur.
Sources close to the ex-chief minister said that one jammer and one pickup carrier had been returned to the provincial government. The sources said that Gandapur and his brother had personally spoken with the officer who had conveyed KP CM Afridi’s orders to confirm and authenticate the withdrawal of the police escort.
In a statement, Gandapur said that at 11pm last night, Sohail Afridi’s deputy chief security officer (CSO) called his security personnel, saying that it was the CSO’s order to withdraw the security.
In a statement, the KP chief minister’s press secretary said that there was no truth in reports about Gandapur’s security detail being withdrawn by Afridi.
Gandapur’s spokesperson, Faraz Ahmed Mughal, insisted that the withdrawal was initiated on the instructions of KP CM Afridi. He said the Chief Minister’s Office contacted the security in-charge and directed that the detail be withdrawn, adding that Gandapur followed the directives within minutes.