After the SC’s ultimatum, an attack on Imran was reported in an FIR. The paper omits mentioning the names of the prime minister, interior minister, and senior military officer.
A first information report (FIR) alleging a gun attack on PTI Chairman and former premier Imran Khan during the party’s long march was filed on Monday at City Police Station Wazirabad after the Supreme Court gave Inspector General (IG) Punjab Faisal Shahkar a 24-hour deadline.
The primary suspect in the case, Naveed, who was detained on the spot, has been accused of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, and preparing to kill someone.
In accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives, the FIR will be presented before the highest court on Tuesday (today).
An FIR was filed against the prime minister, interior minister, and a senior military officer after Zubair Niazi, a relative of Imran Khan and general-secretary of the PTI Lahore chapter, complained to the appropriate station house officer (SHO) about their involvement in the aborted assassination attempt.
However, the three high officials mentioned by the PTI chairman have not been named in the case, and the FIR has been filed in response to a complaint by a sub-inspector police.
PTI Leader Fawad Chaudhry responded to the incident by saying that the party would only consider the FIR lawful if the names of the three high officials were included in it.
If the top authorities were not named in the FIR, he continued, they would view it as nothing more than a piece of paper. “We will not accept any name distortion.”
PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi claimed in a tweet that the Punjab government had prevented the IG Punjab from filing a FIR against “unidentified” individuals.
“Prevented [IG Punjab] from [filing a police report] against unknown folks.”
The former PM was leading the PTI’s “Haqeeqi Azadi March” in Wazirabad last Thursday when a gunman opened fire on his container, striking him in the leg.
The event resulted in the death of one person and the injuries of numerous people close to the PTI chairman, including Senator Faisal Javed, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, Ahmad Chattha, and Imran Yousaf.
Naveed, a suspect, was taken into custody away from the crime scene. The suspect acknowledged firing on the container, but he made no mention of it to anyone during the early inquiries.
He insisted that he was acting alone and said that Imran’s remarks in a few rallies had offended his religious sensibilities.
Those clips purportedly were on his cell phone. Additionally, from his cell phone, speeches by a few religious scholars were also retrieved. The suspect said that he had previously listened to religious scholars speak.
Both the federal authorities and the investigators are sure that the attacker acted alone. The PTI leadership, including Imran, claimed that Naveed was simply a pawn in an assassination conspiracy hatched by three influential figures in the nation.
The PTI head was attacked earlier on Monday, and the Supreme Court ordered IG Punjab Faisal Shahkar to file a police investigation against the crime in compliance with the law and submit a report within 24 hours.
The hearing was presided over by a five-judge bigger bench under the leadership of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial.
“You are a trustworthy and capable cop. No one will be able to obstruct your job, the Supreme Court assures you. Give us some time, then file an FIR. The chief justice advised you to proceed.
“We are not taking suo motu,” Justice Bandial continued. We will move on with an earlier suo motu matter involving the executive’s meddling with the criminal justice system if they are prolonging the situation.
Justice Bandial added that it was on to the supreme court to make sure that justice was carried out in accordance with the law.
The chief justice said, “We just want to make sure that there shouldn’t be any disruptions to your job.”
Additionally, Justice Bandial instructed the police officer to gather forensic evidence while also informing the IG that the provincial government’s “different position” could not prevent police from conducting a fair inquiry.
The chief justice of the supreme court declared that there had been an attempt to kill a national leader and added that a suo motu notice would be issued if the court was unsatisfied with the police report.
Shahkar had earlier informed the bench that he held a different opinion from the provincial government.
It is important to remember that Shahkar had asked for his services to be terminated by the Punjab government with “immediate effect” due to the ongoing impasse over the filing of a FIR for an assault on the PTI leader.
The IG Punjab requested to be made available to the federal government in a letter to the provincial administration, explaining that “personal considerations” prevented him from continuing to do his duties.
The Express Tribune was informed by insiders that the federal government would likely delay the appointment of a new Punjab IG since the Center was not in a rush to fill his position.
Sources claim that the IG of Punjab had qualms about the identities named in the FIR, which ultimately caused a split to widen between the IG and Punjab government and the PTI.
During the hearing, PTI Senator Azam Swati also appeared before the bench.
The CJP informed him that the SC Human Rights (HR) cell was looking into his case.
When discussing the “private film” of him and his wife that was leaked, Swati said that the location on the tape was the federal lodge in Quetta and not the SC rest house.
“Your complaint is really unpleasant, but the court takes great care before sending out a suo motu notice. As a senior senator, you are. Be courageous, the CJP advised Swati.
Justice Bandial stated during the hearing that the HR cell had also been made aware of the grievances of Arshad Sharif’s mother, who had written to the chief justice asking him to establish a high-level judicial commission to look into her son’s death.
The court further stated that the cell had asked for a report from the fact-finding team that had travelled back from Kenya.
In the meantime, the same bench overruled objections from the registrar’s office to a constitutional petition to safeguard police officers’ tenure.
Eight IGs were replaced during the four years of the PTI Punjab government’s rule, according to the petitioner’s attorney, which had a negative impact on the state of law and order in the region. The bench requested that the registrar’s office list the case for hearing before the bench.
Rana Sanaullah Khan, the federal minister of interior, on Monday issued a challenge to the PTI chairman, claiming that if he could demonstrate that he had four gunshot wounds, he would never return to politics.
The interior minister stated in a press conference held outside of parliament that the government was prepared to take part in the inquiry into Imran’s attack.
He urged that the former premier undergo a fair medical examination by an objective medical body so that it could be determined whether or not he had four gunshot wounds.
Sanaullah claimed that the Pakistan Army is a disciplined organisation and that no one should depart from the institution’s stated policy; if they did, they would be held accountable.
He claimed that the DG ISPR’s statement was sufficient with regard to the extension of the army chief.
He said that the Punjab police were assisting the demonstrators while the provincial administration was inciting people to demonstrate.
Sanaullah claimed that Imran Khan used the judiciary and the Pakistan Army for political purposes, adding that this was disastrous for the nation. “Imran Khan took three names because he wants instability in the country,” he added.
He said, “PTI has spent enough time and it is too late for the lengthy march, but the administration is prepared to greet them and has made all necessary preparations by November 4.”
with assistance from our Islamabad reporter
