LAHORE: Police have arrested a young man accused of aerial firing near Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s vehicle in Lahore’s Defence area after tracking him down using Safe City surveillance and modern technology.

According to police, the suspect overtook the minister’s vehicle and fired five shots into the air before fleeing.

He was later arrested along with the weapon allegedly used in the incident, while his vehicle was also taken into custody. Police said the incident occurred in Defence-A on Friday night.

Speaking about the incident, Tarar said he was travelling with his family when a car passed his vehicle from the left and the young man fired five shots. He said they followed the vehicle and alerted police at a checkpoint.

The information minister clarified that the suspect did not target him directly and had only resorted to aerial firing. He added that police were taking legal action over the incident.

The incident comes two days after Azad Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Raja Akmal said that authorities received reports of firing on the convoy of former AJK prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.

In a statement on Friday, the police officer said that further investigations were underway and action would be taken against those responsible for the firing.

Ilyas’ spokesperson said in a Facebook post that the firing took place in the Tain-Dhalkot area, where Ilyas’ guard, Muhammad Asif, was killed, while several others travelling in the convoy sustained injuries.

This incident came ahead of the July 27 elections for the region’s 53-member Legislative Assembly.