JIT formed to probe Imran’s rhetoric

Plaintiff claims PTI chief made baseless accusations about senior military officers, tried to incite revolt

ISLAMABAD:

 

A six-member special joint investigation team (JIT) has been formed to probe into a case filed at the federal capital's Ramna police station against PTI chairman Imran Khan for allegedly making baseless accusations about senior military officers and provoking the people to revolt.

DIG Operations Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari has been appointed the convener of the newly formed JIT.

The JIT will investigate the case  registered against the deposed premier on the complaint of Magistrate Manzoor Ahmed.

In his complaint, the plaintiff has maintained that he heard Imran’s speech on a private TV news channel.

He added that the speech was “very offensive” in which “vulgar” language was used.

The plaintiff claimed that the PTI chairman had made several serious allegations against senior military officers.

He continued that in his speech, the PTI chairman claimed that the senior military officers wanted to oust him from politics.

The plaintiff added that Imran had delivered similar speeches in the past as well and tried to discredit the military by hurling such allegations against its officers.
He claimed that the PTI chief had hatched a conspiracy to weaken the State.
The plaintiff added that under this conspiracy, Imran had tried to incite extremists to rebel against the army and the country.

The magistrate in his complaint maintained that Imran had tried to create fear and panic among the people and disrupt their routine lives.

He further claimed that the PTI chief tried to spread serious propaganda against Pakistan forces and spread chaos in the country.

He added the former premier also tried to become a threat to the security and integrity of the borders.

The plaintiff claimed that Imran had tried to mislead the young officers in the military into violating their oath and acting against their superiors.

He also accused Imran and his party of spreading ugly and negative propaganda on mainstream media as well as online platforms.

Speaking about the investigation of the JIT, a senior police official said the statements of the host, producer and cameraman of the private TV channel’s show would be recorded.

He added that the recording of the Imran’s statement had also been requested from the private TV channel.

The official said representatives of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and Military Intelligence (MI) were also part of the JIT.

To a query by The Express Tribune, the official replied that Imran would have to personally participate in the investigation and his written statements would not be accepted.

He added that the reason for this was that the PTI chairman would be asked comparative questions on the basis of the available proof to verify the concrete evidence.