Govt snubs Imran’s claims about Toshakhana case

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday dismissed PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s allegations that the senior military leadership had him and his wife Bushra Bibi implicated in the Toshakhana (gift repository) reference, describing them as “false, fabricated and baseless”.

“[Imran] and his spouse have both been involved in the Toshakhana heist, audios have proven the level of involvement in corruption and embezzlement,” Tarar wrote in a post on social media platform X.

“Attacks on state institutions like the one on 9th May [last year] and running disrespectful campaigns against martyrs have been his policy. The truth cannot be concealed through propaganda and blatant lies. State of panic at Adiala is evident from recent statements,” he added.

The minister was responding to a post on X shared a day earlier on Imran’s official account that carried the deposed premier’s media talk at Adiala jail, where he was currently incarcerated.

According to the post, Imran told the media that the senior military leadership was “running the affairs in the country”.

Mentioning a “London Plan”, the PTI founding chairman claimed that it was crafted between the current army chief and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

He added that to execute it, judges, appointed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), were taken on board.

Read also: Imran likens current crisis to 1971 debacle

The PTI founding chairman claimed he had never fought with or maligned the military despite former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa “stabbing” his party in the back.

Imran continued that he had also conveyed a message to the military leadership through former president Dr Arif Alvi that he knew about the “London Plan”.

He further said the military leadership was informed that the PTI did not “oppose it”.

Imran claimed that when he was arrested in August last year, the police took away his passport and chequebook from his bedroom.

“The ISI then forced Inam Shah and an employee of the Toshakhana to become witnesses against me,” he added.

The ex-premier said former PTI leader Ali Zaidi “was also in touch” with the military leadership.

Read: Imran, wife get reprieve in gifts case

“I will not accept anyone’s slavery and rather prefer death.”

Speaking about the current government, Imran maintained that the “king” was handling the affairs behind the scenes, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was operating as a “viceroy”.

He also claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lacked any “authority”.

The PTI founding chairman claimed that former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry was still kept in detention in a bid to coerce him into becoming a witness against him even though he had parted ways with the party.

Fawad was set free from Adiala jail on Friday after the Islamabad High Court had granted him protective bail.

Imran claimed that if PTI President Parvez Elahi and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a press conference against him, all charges against them would be dropped.

He also said the senior military leadership would be responsible if anything happened to him or his wife.