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• Sources say Imran refused to drop the army officer’s name from the complaint despite Elahi’s insistence.
• No applications have been received so far to lodge an FIR
Lahore: Although investigators have nabbed two more accused after the shooting death of former prime minister Imran Khan, the impasse over registration of the case continued after the PTI chief refused to withdraw the name of a senior army officer from the complaint. There are also the names of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Reports suggest that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Parvez Elahi is caught between the ‘devil and the deep blue sea’ as Khan, firing shots at the ruling coalition in Punjab, continues to insist that the army officer be nominated in the FIR.
The Punjab cabinet also took up the matter in a meeting on Friday attended by IGP Faisal Shaker, other senior government officials and the provincial law minister.
An official of the development said the morning The meeting discussed serious issues related to all legal aspects of case registration.
He said the huddle also discussed that the delay in registration of a case could derail all efforts to secure evidence and convict the accused involved in the armed attack on Mr Khan’s container in Wazirabad.
One person died and 14 others, including Khan and PTI leaders, were injured in the incident.
Editorial: Disaster averted
Sharing the political dimensions of the issue, the source said CM Elahi was against the logic of nominating a senior army officer in the case. The chief minister and PTI leaders held several meetings on the issue and the former tried to convince them to drop the army officer’s name, sources added.
“There was a discussion between the PTI about submitting an application to the police [ruling coalition partner] And the Punjab government,” he said.
He said the police chief informed the government that the FIR was the first authentic document on the commission of an offense cognizable to initiate investigations.
Unfortunately, despite the arrest of three suspects, including the shooter, who was caught at the scene, the investigation process has stalled in this regard.
The IGP told other participants in the cabinet meeting that the police had not received any application to register an FIR of the attempt to assassinate former prime minister Imran Khan.
Regarding the formation of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), the Punjab Police was of the view that it would be premature to form a JIT before a case is registered.
The meeting was thrown into limbo after it was announced that Chief Minister Elahi and PTI’s top leadership would discuss the matter in another round of meetings later on Friday.
But after taking the final decision in the meetings, the PTI leaders decided to hand over the copy of the application to the Chief Minister.
Responding to a query, the officer said that the two other accused, Waqas and Sajid Butt, who were arrested by the police on Friday, were believed to have sold the pistol and ammunition to prime accused Naveed Basheer for Rs 20,000. He said the main accused has been handed over to Gujranwala Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials for further interrogation.
A senior police officer said the morning A review of the crime scene footage using a dozen CCTV cameras revealed a series of blunders by law enforcement agencies. The biggest mistake was the security lapse which should have been prioritized in the early stages of the investigation into the incident, he said.
The Punjab police chief had raised the issue with the provincial government at a sub-cabinet committee meeting on Friday, where he revealed that Mr Khan’s personal security had defied the advice given by the police.
Safety advice
In the security advisory, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Gujarat Police had been strongly advised to use the bullet-proof rostrum despite serious threats to Imran Khan’s life during the public meeting. “The Gujranwala police chief security officer had promised to provide a bullet-proof rostrum for security in the container used by Imran Khan during the Long March,” the police officer said.
The matter was also highlighted by the police in some sub-cabinet meetings, he said, adding that the CSO had been advised and an ‘undertaking’ was given to the police that the container would be placed.
However, when the security advisory was breached, the police directed Imran Khan’s security personnel to give access to the police in the container to take control of his security. Yet security officials refused to let the armed police into the container, and Khan physically interacted with all who arrived and this ‘blatant violation’ irked the police top brass.
Asked about ‘other shooters’ involved in the armed attack on the container in Wazirabad, the police official said it would be premature to say anything conclusive as investigations are yet to begin.
He also pointed out several other legal lapses that would create problems for investigators in court, including when Mr. Khan suffered gunshot wounds and was initially shifted to a nearby government hospital for a medico-legal case. The law does not allow a victim to get treatment ‘in the first place’ from a private health institution, as ‘wrong or incomplete’ medico-legal reports may suspend or delay legal proceedings, he explained.
In Mr. Khan’s case, he was transferred from Wazirabad to Shaukat Khanam Cancer Hospital in Lahore and was not authorized to issue an officially acceptable medico-legal certificate. He said there were reports that the Punjab government had sent a team of doctors from Public Sector Jinnah Hospital in Lahore to Shaukat Khanum to complete legal procedures.
Posted on November 5, 2022 in Dawn
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