The lawyer of the suspect arrested after the Nov 3 attack on PTI chairman Imran Khan claimed on Thursday that the joint investigation team (JIT) — constituted by the Punjab government to probe the incident — had “distorted the facts” and “wasted evidence” in the case.

Advocate Mian Dawood made these claims in light of “fresh evidence” purportedly provided in the JIT report. It had reportedly found that the attack was carried out from three different shooting sites.

An official privy to the findings earlier told Dawn that shots were fired by “three unknown shooters, from unknown weapons” from a considerable height other than the gun attack carried out by the suspect, Naveed Meher, arrested from the spot.

Last year, a PTI worker died and 14 others, including the former prime minister and PTI leaders, were injured in the attack at Wazirabad’s Allah­wala Chowk, where the party’s “Haqeeqi Azadi”’ march against the federal government had stopped on its way to Islamabad.

In a press conference today, Dawood alleged that the PTI supporter killed on the spot was hit by a bullet fired by Imran’s guard.

It is pertinent to mention here that in a media talk yesterday, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the forensic test of Imran’s guards’ weapons established that none of them fired even a single shot.

He added that PTI worker Moazzam was killed by a bullet aimed at the detained shooter. “The assassin had to be killed on the spot but ill-fated Moazzam came in the way,” Chaudhry said.

However, talking to reporters today, Dawood refuted PTI’s claim saying that the video that showed Imran’s guard firing was not being made part of the case record.

“The video clearly shows that Moazzam was killed by the guard’s firing. They knew the entire onus will be on the guard and if that happened, then the man who hired him will also be in trouble,” he claimed.

“The purpose of the JIT was to save Imran and his guard. It was an attempt to waste evidence. And they did it. If we connect the dots, Imran’s guard is responsible.”

Dawood went on to say that the angling of the shots fired on Moazzam pointed to the position of the guard.

“At least 90 policemen’s statements were recorded by the JIT […] but all of them have disappeared now,” the lawyer said, claiming that the JIT’s work showed that the “entire incident was planted and was set up for PTI’s political goals”.

He also said that the “JIT prepared the investigation report at Zaman Park after consultation with PTI lawyers”.

“This clearly means that the report has no legal value. If PTI believes that the attack was genuine, then why are they running away from getting the FIR registered?

“Because they know everything was planted so that Imran’s long march could be revived. This was all just a drama,” Dawood claimed.

He also questioned the veracity of the bullets received by Imran, saying that there were “no signs of an attack on the container”.

“Imran was the only beneficiary of this entire episode. It was a plan to revive the long march. They are marketing fake injuries to give a boost to the party leader’s image.”

The lawyer added that “we are considering registering a case against Imran, his guard in the killing of Moazzam”.

PTI questions Dawood’s press conference

On the other hand, the PTI criticised the government for allegedly running Dawood’s press conference on the state media.

“The nation wants to know. Who organised this press conference? Who pressured the media to show the press conference of an unknown lawyer namely Mian Dawood,” the party tweeted.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also asked similar questions and warned that “doing these things” will increase “suspicions”.

Alleged video of policemen recording confession

Meanwhile, another video doing rounds on social media has left PTI leaders in an uproar.

The clip, a CCTV footage, allegedly shows the district police officer of Gujarat directing the station house officer to record the confessional statement of the Wazirabad shooter.

Naveed cannot be seen in the video, however, the footage shows a policeman handing over a phone to another officer.

Dawn.com is attempting to independently verify the video.