Islamabad standoff comes to a heroic end; culprit held

GEO TV

The armed standoff, which continued in Islamabad for hours, finally came to a heroic end after an unarmed Pakistan Peoples Party leader, Zamarud Khan risking his life attacked the armed man leading to his arrest, Geo News reported. Khan engaged the armed man in negotiation and then tried to overpower him but the latter slipped out of his hands. Police opened aerial fire which scared the culprit and he surrendered himself to police by lying on ground. No one including the culprit, his wife, and children were hurt in the action, however two policemen including DSP Arif Hussian sustained injured by the shots fired by the perpetrator. Zamarud Khan also remained unscathed in the action. Using a woman and two children as human shield, an armed man, demanding the imposition of Shariah system in Pakistan and the ouster of the incumbent government, held the whole city hostage for several hours ago. It all started after the man, later identified as Malik Sikander, armed with at least two assault rifles, an AK-47 and an SMG, started shooting near Jinnah Avenue. "The man fired several shots after which police and media arrived at the scene", an eyewitness said. His wife and two children, a boy and a girl, are also with him, who seem to be calm despite a heavy police contingent with guns aimed at them positioned nearby. One of the kids is injured evident from a bandage on his forehead, the TV footage showed. The car he is driving is a black Toyota Corolla, which according to sources was rented from Islamabad. The car's front fender is hanging loose, which eyewitnesses said came off after Siikander rammed the car into a police mobile to launch his insane mission. As of now the man stands surrounded by Islamabad police and elite force sharpshooters, but he appears calm, smoking cigarettes and downing energy drinks. He has plenty of water with him to last him even through the night, sources, however, said the police had offered to provide food for his children. Witnessing this nail-biting real-life thriller, which is no where near a climax, the whole country is glued to their TV screens. Hundreds people including mediamen, law enforcers and onlookers are at the scene as the drama is unfolding not far from the Parliament House and Presidency, and Prime Minister House. His wife, who has been shuttling between the police and her armed husband as a messenger, told the police that her husband would only negotiate with a high-ranking police official. Upon this SSP operations, Dr Rizwan walked over to him and tried to talk him into dropping his weapons but to no avail. So far several such negotiations have taken place but the stalemate persists. He many a times successfully had the police commandoes, who were stealthily trying to close in, pushed back by threatening to open fire. According to reports along with a safe passage and protection to his family an over-the-board imposition of Islamic Shariah system across Pakistan as well as ouster of the current government is among his demands. The police have blocked out the spot by setting up tent-cloth-screens around the car of the armed man. Sources said that it showed the lawmen were likely preparing for a decisive action. Meanwhile, police have also raided his house in his hometown for clues to as to what could be on his mind with regard to his further line of action. The police interrogated his relatives to gather more information about him. However, they did not disclose anything. According to certain callers claiming to be his relatives or neighbors, Sikander belongs to Hafizabad and is a bigamist. However no one could confirm the woman, who is by his side right now, is also his wife. There are conflicting reports that he is a former Pakistan Air Force serviceman. Now unemployed, Sikander just recently returned from Dubai, where he was reportedly employed as a migrant worker. It was also reported that the man was psychotic. Another report said that Siikander was deported from Dubai in 1990. He had also married a 45-year-old Arab woman, however there was no word on the status of that relation, the report said.