How Punjab police are investigating May 9 incident

ISLAMABAD: The high-level investigation teams probing the May 9 incidents, including the attack on General Headquarters (GHQ), Corps Commander’s House and other sensitive military installations, have found undeniable evidence of PTI leadership’s involvement through technical evidence mining.

After the Punjab government’s crackdown on the miscreants and PTI leadership that was involved in May 9 incidents, people asked questions about whether the investigation teams were probing the matter transparently and ensuring no innocent person was arrested in the name of law and order.

Also, they asked how the perpetrators of the May 9 incidents were being identified and how the Punjab Police were carrying out an investigation against the miscreants involved in attacks on military installations.

A well-placed source in the Punjab Police, privy to the ongoing investigation, has informed The News that the investigation team headed by DIG Kamran Adil has focused on the technical evidence to hold the culprits responsible. During the investigation, the police have relied on three technical aspects; 1- Social media posts including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube 2- Safe City cameras and video footages, 3-Geofencing and Call Detail Record (CDR) of the culprits who were involved in the attacks on military installations. All the three technical platforms have proved that it was a well-orchestrated plan by the PTI leadership to attack the military installations in case Imran Khan was arrested. The WhatsApp groups record of PTI leadership has provided undeniable evidence against the party leadership how it planned the May 9 saga, informed the source. “Through geofencing and CDR, the investigation teams have collected undeniable evidence that it was a well-planned and well-orchestrated operation of the PTI to attack the sensitive installations. The investigation team has also collected the record of WhatsApp chat of PTI leadership from their WhatsApp groups, which shows how the PTI leadership was coordinating the attacks with the workers,” informed the source.

The source further said it was all planned before May 9 that in case Imran Khan was arrested, the leadership should target sensitive military installations. The party leadership had already identified the key targets including Corps Commander’s House, GHQ, ISI headquarters and many other important buildings.

On May 9, the miscreants not only attacked the Corps Commander’s House, they also attacked 10 other places in Lahore, which were not highlighted. The source informed that PTI leaders, including Yasmeen Rashid, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Ijaz Chaudhry and others, were directly involved in the attacks on military installations in Lahore. The investigation team has obtained undeniable evidence and nominated them under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) cases.

The police have arrested 680 miscreants from Lahore after identifying them through social media posts, geofencing and through Nadra records. The police had advertised the pictures of some accused on national media and announced a cash prize if anyone helped the police in their arrest. So far, 10 accused have been arrested with the help of citizens under the cash reward scheme, informed the source.

The evidence against the accused is undeniable and that is the reason the first batch of miscreants has already been summoned by the military court, the source commented. The remaining accused will also face military courts in the coming days, the source said.

This scribe was trying to contact DIG Investigation Kamran Adil for the last two days but he did not attend the call.