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LAHORE: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Wazirabad attack on PTI chairman Imran Khan has reportedly found that the attack was carried out from three different shooting sites.
An official privy to the findings said shots were fired by ‘three unknown shooters, from unknown weapons’ from a considerable height other than the gun attack carried out by the suspect, Naveed Meher, arrested from the spot.
The JIT in question was formed by the Punjab government and, led by Lahore Capital City Police Officer Additional IG Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, only comprises police officials from the province rather than personnel from across the various law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
“The JIT claimed, in its findings, that Imran Khan was hit by three bullets on the container-mounted-truck during the PTI’s Azadi March in Wazirabad,” the official said.
He said the findings of the JIT were almost complete and a report would be issued soon after receiving some pending reports from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA).
To a question, the official source said the JIT findings confirmed that no injury was reported from the official weapons of the police personnel deployed at the venue of the rally in Wazirabad. The forensic analysis of all the official weapons of the police personnel were carried out by the PFSA. He said the JIT also noticed some mismanagement regarding the security arrangements at the PTI’s march in Wazirabad.
Following the initial reports of the security lapse by the police, the Punjab government has formed another high-level inquiry committee, which is separately investigating the matter, the official source said.
Quoting the JIT report, he said 13 people, including former prime minister Imran Khan, suffered gunshot wounds in the multiple shootings during the Wazirabad attack.
About Naveed Meher, the official said it had also been established in the JIT probe that he had fired shots on Imran’s truck.
Earlier, PTI senior leader Musaddiq Abbasi had alleged the polygraph (lie detector) tests of Meher revealed that he was properly trained to carry out such attacks.
The FIR of the incident was registered on Nov 7 while the JIT, constituted under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, was notified on Nov 3.
Published in Dawn, january 3th, 2023
Asif Chaudhry is a crime and health reporter for Dawn with over two decades of experience. His reporting focuses on uncovering corruption and highlighting systemic failures within the public sector. He can be found on X at @asif_28.
