Former Pakistani Prime Minister and PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, recently acknowledged misplacing a critical cipher during a rigorous inquiry at Attock Jail. He claimed uncertainty about its whereabouts.
Khan faced an hour-long probe by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Circle. The team, led by Deputy Director Ayyaz Khan, questioned the ex-premier extensively on the missing cipher. While Khan willingly cooperated throughout the session, he contested allegations about displaying the cipher at a previous public event.
In his defense, Khan stated, “The document I presented at the public event was merely the cabinet meeting minutes, not the cipher.” He emphasized his privilege as a prime minister to possess such documents. However, he couldn’t clarify why he had presented it as the cipher during that occasion.
Sources intimate with the proceedings hinted that this might conclude the cipher investigation. The team is expected to finalize their findings next week and present them before the court.
In parallel developments, Khan recently contested the denial of his nine bail applications at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). These rejections stemmed from various allegations, including involvement in riots and attacks on judicial establishments. Salman Safdar, Khan’s attorney, petitioned the IHC to overturn the bail denials and proposed a re-assessment of the cases.
Furthermore, Khan had formerly sought the Supreme Court’s intervention against IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, advocating for his cases to be shifted to either Lahore or Peshawar high courts.
In a related incident, the FIA Cybercrime Circle initiated a case against several PTI leaders for purportedly disseminating misinformation against state institutions online. Notable names include Hammad Azhar, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, Qasim Suri, and Fawad Chaudhry. Despite calls for cooperation, these leaders have yet to participate in the FIA’s inquiry.
