Punjab police focusing on 'technical evidence' in May 9 probe

• Questions raised about transparency of investigation.
• Yasmeen Rashid, Ijaz Chaudhry among those "directly" involved.
• Miscreants attacked 10 other places in Lahore.

ISLAMABAD: Investigation teams probing the attacks on General Headquarters (GHQ), Corps Commander’s House and other sensitive military installations on May 9 — the date when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was arrested — have found "undeniable evidence" of PTI leadership’s involvement through technical evidence mining, sources told The News.

Following the Punjab government’s crackdown on the miscreants and PTI leadership involved in the May 9 riots and protests, questions were raised about the transparency of the investigation teams, and how they were ensuring that no innocent person was arrested in the name of law and order.

Moreover, questions were also raised about how these perpetrators were being identified and how the Punjab Police were carrying out an investigation against the miscreants involved.

Addressing these concerns, well-placed sources in the Punjab Police, privy to the ongoing investigation, told The News: "The investigation team headed by DIG Kamran Adil has focused on the technical evidence to hold the culprits responsible." 

They shared that during the investigation, the police relied on three technical aspects. 

One is social media posts including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube. Two, Safe City cameras and video footage; three, geofencing and Call Detail Records (CDR) of those believed to be involved in the attacks on military installations.

An analysis of all the data gathered has "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 and how it planned the May 9 saga, informed the sources.

“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 messages of PTI leadership from their WhatsApp groups, which shows how they were coordinating the attacks with the workers,” the sources said.

They further added that it was planned before May 9 that in case 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, but they also attacked 10 other places in Lahore, which were not highlighted.

The sources shared 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 National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) records.

Earlier, 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, the source said.

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, they commented, adding that the remaining accused will also face military courts in the coming days.

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