LAHORE: The counsel for the suspect in Wazirabad attack on the PTI chairman alleged on Thursday that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Punjab government had been taking instructions from Zaman Park (the residence of Imran Khan).

Speaking at a news conference in the Lahore Press Club, Advocate Mian Dawood, the counsel, questioned the secrecy of JIT’s work and asked how the leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf came to know about the contents of the investigation report.

Muhammad Naveed, the suspect, is currently on physical remand with the police.

The lawyer said the JIT allegedly distorted and concealed the basic facts of the Wazirabad incident. He alleged that Moazam, who lost his life in the attack, was killed by the bullet of security personnel standing on the container of Mr Khan.

He said the police did not implicate the security guard in the FIR nor recorded his statement or conducted forensic analysis of his weapon only to protect the PTI chief.

Claims investigation team taking instructions from ‘Zaman Park’

He said all the police personnel, who joined the investigation, opined that there was only one person who fired on the scene.

Advocate Dawood said PTI’s claim that three assailants attacked the container from as many sides was to twist the facts and mislead the investigation.

He said the JIT did not interrogate PTI Senator Ijaz Chaudhry about his tweet predicting an attack on his party chairman in Wazirabad.

“The senator should be asked about his source of information,” the lawyer said, claiming that the attack on Imran Khan had political motives.

He alleged that the Wazirabad attack was staged by the PTI itself to gain sympathies from the public in the wake of its ‘flop’ long march. He also questioned the claims of Mr Khan that former Sindh governor Imran Ismail miraculously dodged bullets, which pierced through his clothing only.

He also questioned the claims of the PTI relating to bullet injuries sustained by Mr Khan.

Advocate Dawood said the JIT got hold of the CCTV footage of the incident but did not make it a part of the investigation with mala fide intent­ion. He said the PTI leadership shou­­ld have filed a private complaint if it believed that the ‘FIR of its choice’ had not been registered by the police.

The lawyer said he could offer his legal assistance to Mr Khan if the latter wanted to get an FIR of the attack registered.

Published in Dawn, january 6th, 2023