Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), claimed on Tuesday that members of the joint investigation team (JIT) looking into the attack on him on November 3 in Wazirabad were being “pressed to distance themselves” from the case’s conclusions, which supported his “conviction that powerful quarters were behind the assassination attempt.”
An incident at Wazirabad’s Allahwala Chowk, where the PTI’s “Haqeeqi Azadi” march against the federal government had paused on its way to Islamabad, last year resulted in the death of a PTI employee and the injuries of 14 others, including the former prime minister and PTI leaders.
The Punjabi government set up a JIT to look into the incident. The crew reportedly discovered last week that the attack was carried out from three different shooting locations.
An official with knowledge of the earlier results informed Dawn that, in addition to the gun attack carried out by the suspect, Naveed Meher, who was apprehended from the scene, rounds were fired by “three unknown shooters, using unknown weapons,” from a considerable height.
The PTI leader tweeted today that JIT members were under pressure to disassociate themselves from the investigation’s findings into a possible assassination attempt on him.
“This further strengthens my belief that influential groups were responsible for the assassination attempt on me.”
Imran has stated on numerous occasions that three shooters were responsible for the assault on him.
Most recently, on January 5, he said that “two to three people” were responsible for the assassination plot. “I am aware that the nation’s armed services make sacrifices for the country, but every institution has its bad apples.
But I want the person who planned this to work with the JIT, so please do. Those purposefully impeding justice need to be dealt with.
The deposed PM demanded that an investigation be conducted by a “strong” committee supported by Pakistan’s top justice.
Imran claimed, without naming any specifics, that “a federal institution” had declined to examine a mobile phone that the JIT had forwarded for forensic purposes.
The federal government, on the other hand, has disproved Imran’s assertions.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated that the arrested suspect was the only suspect engaged in the event during a press conference last week.
The PTI, he continued, may launch as many investigations as it wanted, but it would not be allowed to “insert a second or third suspect.”