KARACHI: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday rebutted former prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations against the senior military leadership in connection with the Toshakhana case, saying they were “false, fabricated and baseless”, Dawn.com reported on Sunday.

The former premier had alleged that the senior military leadership “implicated” him and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference “in an attempt to stifle my spirits”.

Responding to his allegations, Mr Tarar said they stemmed “from a state of panic and despair”. “Totally false, fabricated and baseless allegations without any proof or evidence,” the minister said in a post on X.

Mr Khan and his spouse were sentenced to 14 years in jail in the case in January, days before the February 8 general elections.

Tarar says a ‘state of panic’ evident from ex-PM’s claims; PTI founder says Ali Zaidi among those in contact with establishment

Last week, the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentences. However, appeals against the convictions in the case are still pending.

“[Imran Khan] and his spouse have both been involved in the Toshakhana heist, audios have proven the level of involvement in corruption and embezzlement,” the minister asserted.

“Attacks on state institutions like the one on May 9 and running disrespectful campaigns against martyrs have been his policy,” he stated, adding that the “truth cannot be concealed through propaganda and blatant lies”.

The information minister said a “state of panic” at the Adiala jail was evident from Mr Khan’s statements.

Transcript

A post shared on Mr Khan’s official account on X, formerly Twitter, gave a transcript of his conversation with reporters at Adiala Jail, where he is currently incarcerated, on Saturday. Mr Khan claimed the senior military leadership was “driving the state affairs”.

The PTI founder, referring to a “London Plan”, claimed he had relayed a message to the military leadership through then president Arif Alvi that he knew about the so-called plan and that “we are not your enemies”.

Mr Khan had challenged the army chief last year to prove any corruption case against him and his wife.

Meanwhile, in the transcript of yesterday’s talk with reporters that was shared on X, Mr Khan also said some PTI leaders were still in contact with the military establishment. He said former PTI leader Ali Zaidi “was also in contact”.

Referring to the recent letter by six IHC judges, Mr Khan said, “The judges are revealing that intelligence agency operatives are blatantly threatening them.”

Recalling that Fawad Chaudhry had “denounced PTI”, the former premier claimed he was “still kept in detention in an attempt to force him to become a witness against me”. Mr Fawad was released from the Adiala jail on Friday after he was granted bail by the IHC in a graft case.

“If Parvez Elahi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi hold a press conference today, all charges against them will be dropped,” the PTI founder believed.

‘Begging for talks’

Meanwhile, Punjab PPP leaders Osman Malik, Rana Irfan, Chaudhry Akhtar and Arshad Jutt taunted PTI founder Imran Khan for “begging for talks” with the establishment.

They said he, who had been bragging “not to spare anyone”, was pleading from jail cell for talks with the establishment. According to them, the PTI has been divided into factions and groups due to provocative policies of its founder.

They demanded that the huge sum of Rs1.2 million being incurred on the security of Imran Khan should be recovered from him instead of overburdening the taxpayers for it.

Amjad Mahmood in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2024