Impasse over FIR as Imran refuses to withdraw name of Army personnel from complaint

While investigators detained two more suspects a day after the gun attack on Pakistan's ex-premier Imran Khan, a stalemate over the registration of a case remained after the PTI chief reportedly refused to remove the name of a senior army officer from the complaint, which also included the names of the prime minister and interior minister, reported Dawn.

According to reports, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi is caught between 'the devil and the deep blue sea' as Imran, who essentially calls the shots for Punjab's ruling coalition, insists on nominating the army officer in the FIR.

The issue was also discussed by the Punjab cabinet at its meeting on Friday, which was attended by IGP Faisal Shahkar, other senior government officials, and the provincial law minister.

According to an official privy to the situation, the meeting addressed serious issues concerning all legal aspects of filing a case, reports Dawn.

He added that the huddle also discussed how a further delay in filing a case could jeopardise all efforts to secure evidence and punish those involved in the armed attack on Imran's container in Wazirabad.

In the incident, one man died and 14 others were injured, including Imran Khan and other PTI leaders.

Sharing the political dimensions of the situation, the source stated that CM Elahi was opposed to the 'logic' of nominating the senior army officer in the case. 

The CM and PTI leaders met multiple times on the issue, with the former attempting to persuade them to drop the name of the army officer, according to the source.

"The PTI [ruling coalition partner] and the Punjab government have been discussing filing an application with the police," he said.

He stated that the police chief informed the government that the FIR was the first authentic document about the commission of the cognizable offence that allowed investigations to begin.

Unfortunately, the investigation has come to a halt, despite the arrest of three suspects, including the alleged shooter, who was caught red-handed on the spot.

During the cabinet meeting, the IGP informed the other attendees that the police had not received any applications to register a FIR in connection with an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In terms of forming a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), the Punjab police believed it would be premature to form a JIT before even filing the case.

The meeting remained inconclusive when it was apprised that CM Elahi and the PTI's top leadership would discuss the matter in another round of meetings to be held late on Friday.

The PTI leaders, however, decided to hand over a copy of the application to the CM after taking a final decision in the meetings, according to Dawn.

Responding to a question, the official said two other suspects Waqas and Sajid Butt who were arrested by the police on Friday believed to have sold the pistol and bullets to the prime suspect, Naveed Basheer, for Rs20,000. He said the key suspect was handed over to the Gujranwala Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officers for further interrogation.

A senior police officer told Dawn that a set of blunders had been noticed by the law enforcement agencies while examining the footage of the crime scene recorded by a dozen CCTV cameras. The biggest of the blunders was the security lapse that must be put on the priority in the starting phase of investigations into the incident, he said.

He said the Punjab police chief had taken up this issue with the provincial government in Friday's meeting of the sub-cabinet committee, where he unveiled that Mr Khan's private security had violated the advisory issued by the police.

In the security advisory, Gujrat police had suggested strongly to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Imran Khan to use bullet-proof rostrum, amid serious threats to his life in the public gathering. 

"The Gujranwala police had offered to the chief security officer that it can provide the bullet-proof rostrum for the security of Imran Khan at the container he was using in the long march," the police officer said.

The matter was also highlighted by the police in some sub-cabinet meetings, he said, adding that the CSO had received the advisory and gave an 'undertaking' to the police that it would be installed at the container.

However, when the security advisory was violated, the police then suggested the security officers of Imran Khan give access to the police on the container to take control of his security. 

Yet the security staff refused to allow the armed police to get into the container, where Imran was physically interacting with everyone reaching there and this 'blatant violation' had irked the police high-ups.

In response to a question about the 'other shooters' involved in the armed attack on the container in Wazirabad, the police officer said it would be premature to say anything conclusive as the investigations were yet to be started.

He also pointed out several other legal flaws that could create troubles for the investigators in the court of law, saying that when Imran got firearm injury he was first to be shifted to the nearby government hospital for a medico-legal case. The law doesn't allow the victim to get 'first' treatment from a private health facility, because 'incorrect or incomplete' medico-legal reports may trigger a pause or delay in legal proceedings, he explained.

In Imran's case, he said, he was shifted from Wazirabad to Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Lahore, which was not authorised to issue an officially acceptable medico-legal certificate. He said there were reports that the Punjab government had sent a team of doctors from the public sector Jinnah Hospital Lahore to Shaukat Khanum to complete legal formalities.