Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has demanded the formation of a powerful committee headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial to investigate the murderous attack in Wazirabad on Thursday.
At a press conference, Khan said: “I have said earlier that I only hope for justice from one place [the SC] because powerful people will not allow an investigation.”
Khan was shot in the leg on December 3 as he led a protest march towards Islamabad waving to crowds from a truck-mounted container to pressure the government to call early elections — but It was shortened in Rawalpindi.
Questions posed by Chairman PTI @ImranKhanPTI regarding the assassination attempt : pic.twitter.com/aSttasj5LJ
— PTI (@PTIofficial) January 5, 2023
Alluding to the involvement of the armed forces in his attack, Khan said that although the Pakistan Army is a supreme institution that serves its country, there are “black sheep” in every institution.
“Now, I want the person who planned to kill me to cooperate with the JIT. These people are deliberately obstructing justice,” the former prime minister said.
The PTI chief had earlier accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior military officer of allegedly being involved in his assassination attempt.
‘Programmed’ shooter
Khan added that when Naveed, the suspect involved in the murder, was arrested, his video confessional statement was released almost immediately “even when I had not reached the hospital after being shot”.
The PTI chief said that Naveed claimed that he was working alone. “He was programmed to say that.”
The former prime minister claimed that when the suspect was asked to say that he was acting alone as if someone was helping him, he could not be called a “religious fanatic”.
Police immediately recorded the suspect’s video statement and circulated it to “journalists and television channels” working against the PTI, Khan said.
شہباز شریف اور رانا ثنا اللہ اکیلے یہ سب نہیں کروا سکتے تھے، انکے پیچھے وہ لوگ ہیں جن کو ہم ملک کا محافظ سمجھتے ہیں، عمران خان pic.twitter.com/zYjPOwf1Z1
— PTI (@PTIofficial) January 5, 2023
The PTI chief claimed that Naveed was not a random religious fanatic but a trained shooter. “And I know this because I’ve practiced shooting.
Accusing the police of not following orders, he said officers at the police station where the suspect was held did not cooperate with the authorities concerned.
‘Who created hurdles?’
Khan then said that he had previously revealed in two public gatherings that a plan was being hatched to kill him and that “two to three people were involved”.
“Who were the people who created obstacles in the investigation? Who were the people who did not record the statements?” The former prime minister asked.
Khan maintained that if he had named a suspect, it was his right to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him and the police – which come under his own government. denied this right.
An FIR was registered almost a week after the attack on Khan on the orders of the Supreme Court, but the PTI rejected it, saying that the FIR did not include the name of the person the party wanted.
Khan then added that there were not one but three shooters – a claim earlier made by PTI senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry. However, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that there was only one shooter and that he was a “religious fanatic”.
Another U-turn on the ‘American Conspiracy’ narrative
Less than two months later, Khan made another U-turn on the “US conspiracy” narrative and claimed he knew how his lawmakers’ loyalties had been switched at the US embassy.
In November last year, Khan said he no longer blames the US administration for the government’s ouster.
He claimed that our people were called to the US Embassy. The ousted prime minister said that he knows who was involved in the process of changing the government. He retired the money that was given to legislators to switch allegiances.
Without naming former Army Chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Khan said he knew how a man decided to topple his elected government.
