Tensions escalated in Pakistan on Friday as former prime minister Imran Khan accused establishment figures of a plot to assassinate him – a claim strongly denied by government and security officials.   

  A day after he survived being shot at a political rally outside the city of Gujranwala in Punjab province, Khan gave a strange speech at a hospital in the city of Lahore where he is recovering from his injuries.  While sitting in a wheelchair, the cricket star-turned-politician named three senior officials as being behind the attack.   

  The former Pakistani leader suffered a fracture in his right leg due to stray bullet injuries, Dr. Faisal Sultan told reporters.  Sultan showed X-rays showing the fracture in Khan’s right leg and bullet fragments lodged in either side of his thigh.   

  Without offering evidence, Khan blamed Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Lt. Gen. Faisal, who is a senior intelligence official.  CNN has reached out to the three men for comment.   

  Khan first claimed on Thursday that the trio was responsible for the plot, in a statement shared by senior PTI leader Asad Umar, who said he had spoken to Khan recently.   

  In a televised address on Thursday, Sanaullah rejected the charge, calling it “harsh”.   

  Pakistan’s intelligence agency also disputed Khan’s claims that a senior intelligence official was behind the shooting, with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) telling CNN in a statement that the allegations were “baseless.”   

  “This is an attempt to prejudice the investigation from the beginning.  The organization had already alerted the federal government about the threat to the former chief minister, who had communicated it to the provincial government of Punjab,” the statement said.   

  The ISI also said that Khan’s security was under the authority of the Punjab provincial government, which is led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.   

  “The security of the former prime minister was the responsibility of the PTI-led government in Punjab province.  The shooting incident is a security lapse on behalf of the Punjab government and cannot be attributed to any individual or any security agency.  The need of the hour is calm in the country and not irresponsible statements,” the ISI said in a statement.   

  Khan had said he knew about the plan to kill him a day before it happened and claimed two gunmen were involved in the attack.   

  “There was an explosion from one side and another coming from the front.  It was two people,” Khan said of the attack.   

  Khan has locked horns with the government since his dramatic overthrow in a no-confidence vote in April.  During this time, he has repeatedly claimed, without any evidence, that the United States was behind his loss of power.   

  One person was killed in Thursday’s attack that injured several others and sparked protests among Khan’s supporters.   

  Video of the alleged attack shows Khan waving from an open-top truck when shots rang out, sending members of his party ducking for cover.   

  A bullet hit Khan in the leg, said senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar, who later added: “Yes, he was shot, there are pellets in his leg, his bone has been chipped.  he has also been shot in the thigh.’   

  A man who allegedly opened fire at the rally was arrested Thursday, police said.   

  On Thursday, Pakistan’s intelligence ministry released a video of the confession of an unnamed man it claims carried out the attack.   

  Khan called on citizens to protest against the three officials he claims planned his attack until they resign.   

  “Until these three men resign, you must protest, against injustice, you must wage jihad against them, jihad means standing against injustice,” Khan said on Friday.   

  Khan said that once he recovers from the shooting attack he will continue the so-called Great March to Islamabad, calling for early elections.  He was on the seventh day of the national tour, which started in Lahore on October 28 and was to end in Islamabad after passing through several cities of Pakistan.   

  It is among several rallies the former Pakistan cricket captain has held since his ouster in April.   

  Thursday’s incident is not the first time Pakistani politicians have been attacked.   

  Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007 and then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani survived an assassination attempt in 2008.