ISLAMABAD: The federal government has written to Punjab government, asking it to register FIR into the assassination attempt on Chairman PTI Imran Khan in Wazirabad on November 3. The move by the federal government came within minutes after Supreme Court ordered IG Punjab to register the FIR into the incident within 24 hours as per law, or else the SC would take Suo Motu action.
Also read: Assassination attempt on Imran Khan: SC orders IG Punjab to register FIR in 24 hours
In its letter to the Punjab government titled ‘Lapse by the Government of Punjab in a High-Profile Case’, the joint secretary (Interior) conveyed Federal Government’s grave concerns on the ‘mishandling’ of the high-profile case which is evident from the fact that the FIR of the said case, ordinarily required to be registered within 24 hours of any incident, has not been registered even after the lapse of more than 36 hours.
The representative of the federal government called the failure to register the FIR despite the fact that the incident took place in the presence of provincial police personnel at the scene as Punjab Government’s “lackluster response”, alleging that following the incident, the provincial Government exhibited complete unwillingness to provide any kind of explanation regarding the unfortunate incident including its failure to provide adequate security to the former Prime Minister and the clear lack of adherence to standard operating security procedures in relation to the convoy.
Imran Khan, it may be recalled here, was leading his Long March towards Islamabad when passing through a small town of Allah Wala Chowk in Wazirabad on November 3, his container came under fire from multiple directions. One person had lost life while 13 others including Khan got injured. Since then, the standoff on the issue of registering FIR continued till the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday ordered the IGP of Punjab to register the case within 24 hours, failing which the SC would take Suo Motu action.
In the context of the incident at Wazirabad, the letter reads, it is stated that FIR of the said case based on facts of the incident should be registered on merits and not on conjectures or speculative allegations immediately, without further loss of time as required under Section 154 of the CrPC,1898 by the concerned SHO or CTD Punjab as complainant as the delay is grossly illegal and has caused irreparable damage to prosecute the real accused.
