What is the motive behind the attack on Imran Khan?

[MenInG]

I had discovered the assassination plot hatched against me almost two months ago & exposed it in RYK 24th Sept & Mianwali 7th Oct public rallies. Wazirabad assassination attempt followed the script. pic.twitter.com/UsQGp2y3EY

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 9, 2022

I wiĺl also disclose the name of the second officer who was sitting with Maj General Faisal in the control room from around 12 noon to 5 pm monitoring the execution of the plot.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 9, 2022

[MenInG]

Imran naming PM, other officials to stay relevant: Marriyum

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has called PTI chairman Imran Khan’s allegations on PM Shehbaz and the other officials a tactic to “stay relevant”.

“Imran Khan’s speeches no more have any effect on the people because all he says are lies and allegations,” she said, according to the APP.

Aurangzeb added that the former premier was frustrated and bent upon creating chaos and anarchy in the country.

[KingKhanWC]

Imran feels they will try again.

Their motive is to whatever it takes to stop IK coming back to power, because once he returns, their lives will never be the same again.

Marriyum woman lacks intelligence, the more she speaks the more people despise her.

[RexRex]

Imran was on Piers Morgan show yesterday to discuss his assassination attempt. Four times he was asked by host to condemn the attack on Salman Rushdie that left him permanently injured and Khan refused to do so every single time which I found disturbing given his own security concerns. Very poor from IK.

[KingKhanWC]

Imran was on Piers Morgan show yesterday to discuss his assassination attempt. Four times he was asked by host to condemn the attack on Salman Rushdie that left him permanently injured and Khan refused to do so every single time which I found disturbing given his own security concerns. Very poor from IK.

I watched the interview, IK has stated told him he has spoken about this issue. Its not in the news today, Peirs tried to divert to make IK look bad but IK is too smart for this idiot.

Stick to the thread, IK attack not try a Peirs here. Bump up the Rushdie thread and you will find many views from Pakistanis.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Imran was on Piers Morgan show yesterday to discuss his assassination attempt. Four times he was asked by host to condemn the attack on Salman Rushdie that left him permanently injured and Khan refused to do so every single time which I found disturbing given his own security concerns. Very poor from IK.

Why was Piers Morgan asking a PM of a major nation who has been the subject of an assassination attempt about an unconnected incident in the US while he was still wearing bandages of his wounds which could have been fatal? This is trash news at it's worst.

[RexRex]

Why was Piers Morgan asking a PM of a major nation who has been the subject of an assassination attempt about an unconnected incident in the US while he was still wearing bandages of his wounds which could have been fatal? This is trash news at it's worst.

If you watch the interview you'll see that the first 15 minutes were spent entirely on the assassination attempt against Imran. The last 5 mins quickly touched on other topics like Rushdie and Sunak.

It's strange that you choose to reserve your ire for 'trash' Piers Morgan than IK's refusal to condemn.

[MenInG]

PTI chairman Imran Khan has claimed that the assailant who tried to assassinate him in the Wazirabad attack was a “trained shooter” and not a “religious fanatic”.

The PTI chief was injured during a gun attack while leading the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad on November 3. A PTI supporter, Moazzam Nawaz, was killed in the incident while 14 others, including Imran, were wounded. The suspect was soon after arrested by the police.

In an interview with German International broadcaster DW on Thursday, Imran claimed that his assailant’s profile was already drawn up and did not match that of a religious fanatic. “He was not a religious fanatic, this was a trained shooter,” he added.

[MenInG]

The Punjab government changed on Friday the head of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the assassination attempt on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan a day after the committee was formed.

The provincial interior department had initially appointed Director Inspector General (DIG) Establishment Chief Police Officer (CPO) Lahore Tariq Rustam as the head of the JIT. He has now been replaced by Regional Police Officer (RPO) Dera Ghazi Khan Syed Khurram Ali.

[MenInG]

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has claimed he had been tipped off by a friendly source in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would try to pass off an "organised assassination attempt" as being carried out by a "rogue Islamic fundamentalist".

In an interview with The Telegraph, Imran alleged that "desperate" PM Shehbaz had a “track record” on ordering killings, saying he was “not surprised” an attack had been ordered against himself, as his political rival seeks to consolidate his hold on power.

“I think it was Human Rights Watch or Amnesty who said that during 1997 and 1999 when he [Shehbaz Sharif] was chief minister in Punjab, they listed the number of people he had killed through extrajudicial killings, I think it was around 900 people,” Imran alleged.

“When he came to power [in April] he had a case of billions of rupees against him and he was about to be convicted – it was an open and shut case. Then four witnesses died mysteriously in two months, and one of the investigators also died too,” he went on to claim.

“They have already tried other ways. To get me disqualified [from politics] in legal cases, terrorism charges, I have around 25 cases against me right now,” Imran said.

“But, these cases were failing and as my support grew, I knew my life would be in danger.”

'Threat to life remains'

Imran said that threat to his life remains despite the failed assassination attempt. “Yes, I feel that there would be another attempt [on my life] unless Pakistan’s Supreme Court takes up the issue,” he admits.

The former premier said that the investors were losing confidence in the current government, adding that Pakistan was going to go down an economic quagmire if the current government stays in power.

“I feel there will be social unrest unless [early] elections are held because of the economic meltdown that is taking place right now," he added.

'Protests democratic right'

Talking about the protests by the PTI, he said that it was his party's democratic right. “Marches and peaceful protests belong in a democracy and we see protests across Europe now, like in France or Britain, protests by unions and against price hikes,” said Imran.

“So, there is nothing wrong with [our] protests and they shouldn’t destabilise the country. We had three long marches against me when we were in power and we didn’t try to stop them or take coercive action.”

Also read: Will tell tomorrow when long march will reach Islamabad, says Imran

He said that he hasn’t taken a day off from campaigning since being ousted from power.

In the interview, the ousted prime minister also spoke about his sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim, who visited him last week.

The report stated that together, Imran “afforded himself several ‘wonderful’ hours and they watched the World Cup cricket final together between England and Pakistan — as long as his boys promised him that they would support the Green Army.

“The United Kingdom is like a second home to me… some of my closest friendships are there but since my party came into power, it is impossible for me to visit,” he says.

“Since we were outside power, it is even more difficult, I am on the campaign trail. I don’t see myself leaving Pakistan now.”

'It was straight forward assassination attempt'

Describing the Wazirabad incident that occurred on November 3, Imran said that it was straight forward assassination attempt.

“When the shooter fired, there was a man standing on the street [next to him] and this young supporter, he put his hand on the gun and so rather than hitting my chest, the bullets hit my legs,” Imran said, recalling the actions of a bystander who intervened and grappled a handgun away from the attacker.

“This caused my legs to collapse. There was a second shooter but the bullets then went over my head,” he added, doubling down on his claim that another gunman was involved that contradicts police reports.

Express Tribune

[MenInG]

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT), formed to probe the attack on former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan in Wazirabad, has started interrogating the prime suspect Naveed Meher, ARY News reported.

The joint investigation team – formed to probe November 3 assassination bid on Imran Khan, was constituted by Punjab government under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

According to sources, the JIT questioned suspect Naveed about November 3 attack. The assailant, who opened fire at PTI chief, told the investigative team that the former premier was his only target.

The attacker told JIT he was planning the assassination attempt ever since Imran left Lahore. “I wanted to kill Imran Khan only and no one else because he was misleading people”.

He further told probe team that nobody was behind him and he performed the act at his own behest.

Earlier, the ATC granted 12-day physical remand of the prime suspect Naveed Meher in the Imran Khan attack case.

The police sought 30-day physical remand of Meher, however, the court granted a 12-day remand of the prime suspect and handed him over to the JIT.

The suspect will be produced before the special court on November 29.

Meher was arrested after opening fire at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former premier Imran Khan on November 3 from the crime scene in Wazirabad. The First Information Report (FIR) of the gun attack incident had been registered on November 7.

The judge expressed outrage over the delayed production of the suspect. The court also ordered to probe into the delay in the production of Naveed Meher and asked the JIT head to ascertain the responsible.

[MenInG]

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has demanded to probe into serious allegations levelled by Tasneem Haider against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), ARY News reported on Sunday.

Earlier, the spokesperson of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s London chapter, Tasneem Haider Shah, alleged that the assassination plots against PTI chief Imran Khan and slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif were prepared by PML-N in London. He directly blamed PML-N for carrying out the gun attack on Imran Khan and the assassination of Arshad Sharif.

Fawad Chaudhry claimed that Haider is a close aide of PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif and he should be investigated. He added that the concerned authorities should ascertain the facts by probing into Haider’s allegations.

He said that they demanded the Supreme Court (SC) take suo motu notice of the slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif. He demanded the top court take notice of Tasneem Haider’s allegations.

Tasneem Haider Shah – the PML-N London spokesperson – levelled serious allegations against his party’s top leadership and claimed that the assassination plots against former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif were prepared in London.

While addressing a press conference in London today, he claimed that he held three meetings with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif at Hussain Nawaz’s office in London. “I am associated with the PML-N for the last 20 years. I was summoned for the meeting to prepare a plot to assassinate Imran Khan and Arshad Sharif.”

Shah claimed that he is ready to record his testimony before the investigation institutions of Pakistan. He added that Nawaz Sharif had asked him to start working on the plan after Maryam Nawaz reaches London.

Tasneem Haider Shah revealed that PML-N was also aware of the journalist’s location in Kenya and he was told that Arshad Sharif will be assassinated in Kenya.

It is pertinent to mention here that the slain senior journalist and former anchorperson of ARY News Arshad Sharif was assassinated in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23, whereas, the gun attack on PTI chief Imran Khan was carried out on November 3 in Wazirabad during the long march.

ARY

[MenInG]

“I never thought that people like Maj Gen. Faisal would be present in our institutions”-@ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/JGSQJIKrkO

— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 23, 2022

[Sher Khan]

Obviously, the Tasneem Haider allegations are being investigated. However, the Sharif family has gone to Europe on a holiday. You'd think the Police would stop them from leaving the country if the case was serious?

Tasneem seemingly has no evidence and is claiming to be a PML-N spokesman who was present in these "meetings". His stories do seem inconsistent and hard to believe.

But if any involvement of the Sharif family is proved. It would be a critical point in Pakistan's political history, and basically game over for the PML-N political party.

[MenInG]

Contrary to PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan’s claim, the joint investigation team (JIT) probing into the firing at the party’s “Haqeeqi Azadi March” in Punjab’s Wazirabad on November 3 found no evidence of a second attacker.

According to police sources, the JIT visited the site of the attack thrice in Wazirabad. It questioned and recorded statements of more than 800 police personnel during its investigation.

It took written statements from 90 police personnel and over 700 were questioned orally. The sources said the statements of Gujrat district police officer, Wazirabad deputy superintendent of police and Wazirabad City SHO were also recorded.

The police personnel from whom statements were taken were deployed on the sides and roof of the container. None of the over 800 witnesses confirmed the presence of another assailant.

The police sources said after the attack, the PTI chairman had claimed that there were two shooters. During the investigation, concrete evidence of firing by a guard standing on the container was also found.

To identify him, the weapons of all the guards on the container would be forensically tested. After identification, the guard would also be interrogated in the case.

Imran, 70, was wounded by a gunfire aimed at his open-top container truck as he led a political party convoy through thick crowds in Wazirabad on November 3.

One person died in the incident while several members of the PTI chairman’s close circle, including Senator Faisal Javed, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, Ahmad Chattha and Imran Yousaf, were injured.

A suspect identified as Naveed was arrested from the crime scene. The suspect admitted to opening fire on the container but did not point out to anyone during the initial investigation.

He remained firm that he acted alone and claimed that a few speeches of Imran hurt his religious sentiments.

He also told the earlier investigators that he used to hear the speeches of a few religious scholars. The clips of Dr Israr Ahmad, Late Maulana Khadim Rizvi and his son Hafiz Saad Rizvi were also recovered from his mobile phone.

Naveed told the previous investigators that he was frustrated because Imran was allegedly misleading the nation and had also uttered “blasphemous and anti-religious words”.

The sources said the JIT interrogators had changed their questions each time they grilled him, but he remained firm.

They added that Sajid and Waqas, the men who had provided the weapon to the attacker, were also interrogated.

The federal government had been adamant that the attacker acted alone but the PTI leadership including Imran said Naveed was only a pawn who executed the assassination plot hatched by three powerful personalities of the country.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2388082...other-attacker

[MenInG]

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the assassination attempt on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan found that there was a planned attempt to assassinate the former prime minister in the Wazirabad attack on November 3, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Wednesday.

Sharing the findings of the JIT, Chaudhry, the senior vice president of the PTI, said that by reducing the number of police personnel in Gujarat, an opportunity was provided for the attack and subsequently an assassination attempt was made at the Imran Khan.

“The revelations made in the JIT report will be made public soon, Chaudhry said, while speaking to the media. “A well-thought-out narrative was chalked out to give the assassination attempt the cover of religiously-motivated crime,” he added.

Chaudhry accused the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders including Javed Latif, Maryam Aurangzeb, Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Asif, of being part of the plot, pointing out that these ministers had accused Imran of blasphemy in their separate press conferences.

Chaudhry claimed that there was plot to kill the prime suspect in the shooting case, Naveed Mehr. “The initial findings revealed that three assassins were present at the crime scene, 14 shells were recovered on the ground and nine shells were recovered from a building, and one suspect assailant [Naveed] was arrested. The police were in search of two other attackers,” he added.

According to Chaudhry, the report also cleared the misleading information; no bullets were fired from the guns of Imran’s security guards after their weapons were forensically tested and the 14 shells found at the crime scene were fired from three different weapons.

He also raised suspicion over the release of a confessional video of the suspected attacker Naveed before the PTI chief had reached the hospital after the attack, which was tweeted by journalists.

“Moreover, the DPO Gujarat gave a camera to an SHO to record the confession of the attacker. In this connection, the DPO was summoned for the investigation but he did not turn up; [so] who stopped him from recording his statement on the matter,” he questioned.

Fawad Chaudhry further said that it had been confirmed that a bullet that hit Moazzam [a PTI supporter who was killed on the day of the attack] came from the gun of a second shooter and was intended for Naveed.

Talking about the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), he said, “Who was stopping them from presenting the records and other documents to the investigators. The federal agencies refused to provide the IP addresses used by accused Naveed,” he added.

Express Tribune

[daytrader]

Investigators to take cue from Imran shooter’s phone data
Investigators claimed that one Thailand-based and two local phone numbers obtained from Naveed Meher’s mobile might help give a direction to the probe

Investigators Saturday claimed that one Thailand-based and two local phone numbers obtained from Naveed Meher’s mobile — the main suspect in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s Wazirabad assassination bid — might help give a direction to the probe.

Khan was shot in the leg on December 3 as he waved to crowds from a truck-mounted container while leading a protest march to Islamabad to pressure the government into announcing an early election — but it was cut short in Rawalpindi. In the JIT report, the investigators mentioned that the experts who ran the forensic scans on the accused’s handheld device also came across a strange contact name “Na Hai, Na Ho Ga, Na Rahe Ji”.

According to the forensic report, the SIM cards of two mobile operators were recovered from the phone. The police techies were able to retrieve 138 phone numbers, data of 1,869 calls, 337 text messages, 1,956 photos, and 212 videos from Meher’s phone.

However, the authorities could not recover the deleted phone data. The forensic experts burnt all the data to a DVD and handed it over to the JIT.

...
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/102...r-s-phone-data

[Firebat]

As per media reports, JIT members being pressurised to distance themselves from the findings of JIT investigating assassination plot against me. This further confirms my conviction that powerful quarters were behind the assassination attempt on me.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 10, 2023

[daytrader]

Wazirabad attack JIT members replaced
Four members relieved of duty over differences with Lahore CCPO

The Punjab Home Department has issued a notification for the replacement of four members of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the gun attack on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Nov 3 last year.

The move comes after differences emerged between Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, who is leading the investigation and the other four members of the team.

As per the notification, all four members have been changed for developing differences with the Lahore CCPO. The notification was dated back to Jan 14, whereby the new members were appointed under the chairmanship of the CCPO.

The new members include Dera Ghazi Khan DPO Muhammad Akmal, SP Anjum Kamal and DSP CIA Jhang Nasir Nawaz. The decision regarding the appointment of the fourth member remains pending and has been entrusted to the newly reconstituted JIT.

It should be noted here that after the JIT members wrote a dissenting letter in the case, the head of the team recommended action against them.

Dogar sent a letter to the chief secretary to take action against the members on charges of spoiling the case by giving confidential information to social media and electronic media.

He said the members never told him about the objections verbally or in writing, but they suddenly thought that objections should be levelled in a joint report. He added that as the JIT head, he should have been informed of the objections first.

...
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2397272...mbers-replaced

[Savak]

Have a nasty feeling the establishment and PDM will try something again as well. The people didn't come out violently on the streets, the PDM and the establishment will now feel confident that people again will not do anything.

[daytrader]

ASIF ALI ZARDARI ‘PLANNING’ ATTACK ON IMRAN KHAN: SHEIKH RASHEED

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed claimed on Friday that former president Asif Ali Zardari has hired a “group of terrorists” to target PTI Chairman and former premier Imran Khan, ARY News reported.

Talking to the media outside his Lal Haveli residence, Rasheed said that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has “engaged a group of terrorists” to plan attack on PTI chief Imran Khan.

“Asif Ali Zardari is planning to target Imran Khan,” he claimed, adding that plans were being made to “assassinate” former prime minister Imran Khan.

The former interior minister said attempts would also be made to put the PTI chief behind the bars and disqualify him ahead of elections in the country.

Taking a dig at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said the “13 parties” were not ready to contest elections in presence of Imran Khan.

The former federal minister said that he will resist the Lal Haveli’s evacuation.

Earlier it emerged that the Evacuee Trust Properties Board (ETPB) has decided to vacate Rawalpindi’s historic Lal Haveli, the residence of former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed.

According to details, the Evacuee Trust Properties Board (ETPB) has prepared a strategy to vacate Lal Haveli within 24 hours.

In October last year, a district and sessions court in Rawalpindi accepted Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and his brother Sheikh Sadeeq Ahmed’s plea challenging the eviction order of the civil judge for his Lal Haveli residence.

ARY

[MenInG]