JIT probing attack on Imran reconstituted

LAHORE: A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the assassination attempt on PTI Chairman Imran Khan in Wazirabad has been reconstituted.

According to a notification released on Sunday, the Punjab Home Department replaced all members who had differences with the team head. No senior officer has been included in the new JIT.

The new members include Dera Ghazi Khan District Police Officer Muhammad Akmal, Superintendent of Police Anjum Kamal and Jhang CIA DSP Nasir Nawaz.

The decision to appoint the fourth member of any department was entrusted to the JIT. The old members had raised objections against the JIT chief and Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar for his “political inclinations.”

According to the notification, the decision to appoint the fourth member of any department rests with the team. The former members had accused Dogar of conducting the probe on political grounds, sources said.

The counsel of the suspect involved in the gun attack on Imran Khan had also accused Ghulam Mahmood Dogar of probing the case according to the will of the PTI leader.

In a statement, accused Naveed Meher’s counsel said that keeping Dogar as the head of the team was based on malice. He added that it was necessary to remove Dogar as well from the team. “The nation already considers Dogar responsible for botching the investigation,” he claimed. The lawyer asked why the previous members of the probe body were presenting the suspects in court when a new JIT had been constituted.

On January 10, Geo News reported that differences had emerged among the members of the JIT. The PTI chairman was attacked on November 3 in Wazirabad when he was leading the Azadi March against the Shehbaz Sharif-led government demanding early polls. Law enforcement agencies had apprehended the suspect, Naveed, from the scene, who also confessed to opening fire on the PTI leadership. The first information report of the incident was registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 on November 7. Sources in the JIT said the investigation into the assassination attempt had been handed over to an anti-corruption officer by Dogar. The CCPO Lahore who is leading the probe had assigned the key responsibility of interrogating the suspect to an anti-corruption officer, Anwar Shah, and no other member of the probe panel was given access to the attacker.

The four members of the JIT had shared their reservations with the Home Department and the Punjab Police chief. They also wrote a letter to the Home Department highlighting the problems. The members who expressed their concerns were Khurram Shah, Naseebullah, Ehsanuullah and Malik Tariq Mehboob.

Imran Khan had also cast aspersions over the investigation conducted by the team and requested Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to form a powerful team for the purpose.