PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Sunday said that May 9 incident was a trap for founder of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and his party and hinted at conducting a judicial inquiry into ransacking of the building of Radio Pakistan on that day.

“An inquiry commission will be formed in the first cabinet meeting on the incident, which took place in the building of Radio Pakistan Peshawar,” Provincial Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi told a press conference.

The building of Radio Pakistan Peshawar was torched on May 9, 2023, during protests that followed the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan. The attack destroyed equipment, historical recordings and three vehicles. An employee of the radio was also hospitalised with burns.

The minister said that CCTV footages would be collected to see as to who entered the building and opened the doors. He wondered as to why CCTV footages of the incident were not made public.

Minister terms the incident a trap for PTI founder and his party

He said that May 9 was a trap to eliminate PTI. If judiciary refused to conduct the inquiry, there was a possibility of probing the incident through a commission comprising officers of provincial bureaucracy, he added.

Accompanied by chief minister’s aide on information and public relations Shafiullah Jan, he said that prime minister’s so-called coordinator Ikhtyar Wali Khan spoke against Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi. He termed it a continuation of conspires against Mr Afridi that began when he was nominated for the office of chief minister.

The minister said that Mr Wali alleged that Mr Afridi was present at Corps Commander House in Lahore on May 9. He said that the chief minister was in Peshawar and not in Lahore on May 9. He added that Mr Wali accidently became prime minister’s coordinator after he complained about sidelining of PML-N workers in KP.

Without naming anyone, he said that were hurt by Mr Afridi’s selection for the office of chief minister by PTI founder Imran Khan as they could not control him. Referring to the news conference of Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, he said that during a press conference held in Peshawar accusations were levelled against Mr Afridi but despite several hurdles, he got elected the chief minister and finally formed his cabinet.

“They will feel the pain with more severity in future,” he said.

The chief minister’s aide on information, Shafiullah Jan, said that Mr Wali shared a video on state television and insulted 40 million people. “Will incumbent Minister for Defence Khwaja MOhammad Asif, Maryam Nawaz, Parvez Rasheed and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will apologise for what they said against the military in the past,” he questioned.

He said that ‘an institution’ sent a message through a person that Mr Afridi would never meet Mr Khan.

Responding to queries, Mena Khan said that Zaman Park was attacked followed by an attack on PTI founder in Islamabad and that the video, showed by the prime minister’s coordinator, was recorded in March 2023 and it had nothing to do with May 9.

About law and order in the province, he said that a parliamentary committee on security held its first meeting and the second meeting was scheduled for today [Monday] where KP police chief Zulfiqar Hameed was called to brief it.

He also said that the chief minister made a courtesy call to all the heads of political parties in KP and a Qaumi Jirga would be formed to jointly hold discussion for lasting peace in the province.

About the cabinet, Mena Khan Afridi said that a small cabinet was formed on the directions of PTI founder. He said that all the regions and districts were likely to be included in the cabinet, following meeting between the chief minister and the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2025