A Pakistani gunman stands next to his wife during a standoff with police in Islamabad on August 15, 2013/AFP
Waving two semi-automatic guns and occasionally firing into the air, Mohammad Sikandar was accompanied by his wife and children throughout the tense drama late on Thursday that took place close to Islamabad’s political quarter.
Broadcast live on Pakistan’s freewheeling rolling news channels, hours of stalemate came to a chaotic end when Zamarud Khan, a senior member of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party sent to negotiate, made a sudden lunge at the gunman.
Khan slipped and missed his man, but police opened fire, seriously wounding Sikandar in the chest and leg before arresting him, dragging him off as blood poured from his wounds. Doctors said he was improving on Friday.
The drama in the centre of the normally sleepy capital drew a huge crowd of onlookers and media, and Islamabad police chief Muhammad Rizwan said they were to blame for the slow response, denying his men had dithered in the face of the challenge.
“The commando operation was delayed because we needed proper space between the general public and the gunman,” he said on Geo TV.
“We had asked media and the general public who had gathered there to stay at least 300 metres away for their own safety, but they did not move away.”
Rizwan said there was a gap of only 50 metres (160 feet) between the crowd and Sikandar, making it impossible to tackle him safely.
He said it appeared Sikandar was not part of any extremist outfit.
“The preliminary investigations suggest that this man is not associated with any group and it was his own individual act,” he told Geo TV.
The standoff began around 5:30 pm (1230 GMT) when police flagged down the car for a traffic offence on the central Jinnah Avenue neighbourhood – just over a kilometre from the presidency and parliament buildings.
Sikandar then started firing into the air, forcing markets and shops in the area to close, before making a series of rambling demands including the resignation of the government, the imposition of Sharia law and the release of a son from prison in Dubai.
Some police officials said he appeared to have mental health problems but Rizwan said this was yet to be confirmed.
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