Lahore: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday demanded a “proper inquiry” into the death of a Sub-Inspector, the complainant and a crucial witness in the assassination attempt on him in Punjab province in November last year.
Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), suffered bullet injuries in the right leg on November 3 when gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him and others standing on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area, some 150 km from Lahore, where he was leading a ‘Long March’ to Islamabad press for snap polls.
Sub Inspector Aamir Shahzad Bhadar, who died of cardiac arrest on Sunday, was the complainant in the case registered against the gun attack on Imran.
Bhadar was the Station House Officer of the Saddar police station in Wazirabad when Imran Khan was attacked in November 2022.
He was at his house in his native village Bhadar near the Kharian town of Gujrat when his condition deteriorated, according to family sources.
In a series of tweets on Monday, the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician and PTI chairman called the death of the police officer “sudden”.
“We demand a proper inquiry into the sudden death of SHO Amir Shehzad, of a heart attack. He had registered the FIR of Wazirabad assassination attempt on me & was a critical witness in unearthing the conspirators behind this assassination plot being inquired into by the JIT,” Khan tweeted.
Khan also referred to a few other deaths of other witnesses in the case relating to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s money laundering case.
“It is equally important to recall the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of FIA investigator Dr Rizwan as well as the deaths of Maqsood Chaprassi and all other witnesses in Shehbaz Sharif’s money laundering case,” the ex-premier said.
Mohammad Rizwan, who probed the money laundering charges against Prime Minister Sharif and former Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz died of a heart attack in May last year.
Khan also reiterated claims that the Joint Investigation Team’s record was being tampered with.
Following the assassination attack, Khan had blamed Prime Minister Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a high-ranking officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence for planning the incident and attempted to nominate them in the case.
Since then, several PTI leaders, including the chairman, have reiterated that the attack was part of a “well-coordinated” plan executed by at least three shooters to eliminate Khan, the report said.
A Joint Investigation Team formed by the Punjab government had reportedly concurred with Khan’s claims that the attack was carried out from three different shooting sites.