Firing at Imran’s rally: Four JIT members dispute more than one assailant’s involvement

LAHORE: Four members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Wazirabad incident in which shots were fired at a convoy carrying former premier Imran Khan have submitted a letter to the JIT convener in which they have emphatically stated that they do not agree with the unilateral findings of investigation.

“Some of the conclusions being drawn and shared on the media are not shared by us. We hold very different views about the issue,” the authors of the letter stated.

Sources familiar with the investigation say no member of the JIT was allowed to investigate or question the accused. This led to complete disagreement by the four JIT members with the findings being reported in the media. These four members of the JIT have informed the Home Department and Punjab IGP about their concerns.

The four JIT members questioned the claim of involvement of more than one assailant. The members also pointed out that there was no evidence that showed that the assailant was linked to any other person in carrying out the attack.

The letter also noted that differences within the JIT had been brought to the notice of the convener several times but they were ignored. “The worthy CCPO (convener) was requested time and again to give importance to our divergent views on the subject case but for reasons best known to him, our opinion was not given due weightage.”

The letter also noted that at a meeting held on December 17, 2022, a member of the JIT had expressed his concerns regarding the process and quality of investigation. Subsequently he was not invited to attend the next meeting held on December 29. “We firmly believe that objectivity and impartiality cannot be compromised at any cost,” the letter states.

It is important to mention that on Tuesday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had alleged that members of the JIT were being “pressurised to distance themselves” from the findings of the case, which confirmed his “conviction that powerful quarters were behind the assassination attempt.” This claim is in stark contrast to the letter signed by the members of the JIT who, it appears, had doubts about the process of the investigation for several weeks. The JIT was formed by the government of the Punjab with the Lahore CCPO as its convener. The CCPO handed over the investigation to an anti-corruption officer, Anwar Shah.