Bilal Ahmed 
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Pir Muhammad Aslam’s house in Nowshera district’s Risalpur suffered partial damage after an alleged militant from a proscribed outfit threw a hand grenade into the male guesthouse.
According to Pir Muhammad Aslam, he received an extortion letter from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on July 1st. The TTP demanded Rs10 million in extortion, threatening him with severe consequences if the money was not paid.
Read more | PPP’s Pro poor approach
Later, Aslam also received phone calls from numbers in neighboring Afghanistan, instructing him to arrange the money or face dire consequences.
Subsequently, on July 21 and 26, the militants made phone calls from Pakistani numbers, threatening him and his family with elimination if the extortion money was not delivered immediately.
As Aslam failed to arrange the money, the militants targeted his house on Wednesday night by throwing a hand grenade, resulting in partial damage to the house and the adjacent hujra. Fortunately, Aslam and his family members remained unharmed during the incident.
The CTD Investigation
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a case and initiated an investigation. The CTD later released CCTV footage showing a man hurling the grenade into the house and fleeing.
Pir Muhammad Aslam is a provincial leader of the PPP and had contested elections twice on the party ticket but was unsuccessful in securing a seat in the Assembly.
It’s worth noting that this is not the first instance of extortion reports from the TTP. Previously, senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Atif Khan allegedly received an extortion letter from the proscribed outfit demanding Rs8 million.
Read more | Former PTI, PML-N leaders join PPP
Apart from their extortion activities, the TTP is notorious for increasing attacks against the military since November of the previous year when it ended the ceasefire with Pakistan.
