LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Information and Culture, Azma Bokhari, on Sunday said in a statement that the incidents involving arson attacks on Radio Pakistan building, toll plazas, and ambulances by the PTI in Peshawar on May 9, 2023, were part of a “well-planned conspiracy, and irrefutable evidence has now surfaced in the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory report.”

On May 9, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested.

“The planning was carried out by the same elements involved in the violence, and their statements — including those of Murad Saeed — are on record,” she said.

Bokhari added that evidence related to the May 9 incidents had already been presented before the nation earlier, but the “PTI leadership, true to its past conduct, chose to deny facts and fabricate false narratives.”

“Lying is not merely a habit of PTI; it has become a chronic disease from which they appear unwilling and unable to recover,” she remarked.

The minister emphasised that the individuals who stormed Jinnah House and engaged in vandalism were not ordinary people, but official office bearers and ticket holders of PTI.“

Despite this, a persistent false narrative was promoted, branding the events as a so-called ‘false flag operation’, she said, noting that even the party’s founder had publicly stated that he would apologise if incontrovertible evidence emerged.

“Yet, despite evidence surfacing repeatedly, there has been no remorse or acceptance,” she said.

Bokhari further stated that the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory was among Asia’s most credible forensic institutions and that the report — which was dispatched on December 23 and a copy of which is available with Dawn — included a complete forensic analysis of the Peshawar incidents, supported by videos and photographic evidence.

“It clearly documents the torching of Radio Pakistan, attacks on multiple toll plazas, and the burning of ambulances — all of which constitute grave criminal acts,” she said.

The PML-N stalwart categorically stated that all this evidence was admissible in any court of law, and those involved in rioting, vandalism, and damage to state property will be brought to justice.

“The politics of abusing, intimidating, and blackmailing the state through lies will no longer be tolerated,” Bokhari concluded. “The law will take its own course.”