Provide foolproof security to ex-premier, orders Shahbaz
Prime Minister directs relevant authorities to provide foolproof security to his predecessor ater PTI chairperson said that there was a threat to his life
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed relevant authorities to provide foolproof security to his predecessor Imran Khan ater the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) chairperson said on multiple occasions that there was a threat to his life.
Officials said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah briefed the premier in detail about security arrangements for Khan. The premier instructed Sanaullah to provide the “best security” to the PTI chief.
Separately, the Prime Minister’s Office said that similar instructions were also issued to the provincial governments.
“Moreover, a chief security officer has also been provided to [the] former prime minister on the directions of the prime minister,” it added.
An interior ministry spokesperson also issued a statement confirming that in light of Sharif’s instructions, foolproof security arrangements for Khan had been ensured.
“Police and other law enforcement agencies have been directed to ensure complete deployment of the security personnel assigned for the former prime minister,” the spokesperson said, adding that 94 police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel had been deployed for the security of the former premier’s Banigala residence.
Thirty-five personnel of two security companies were also deployed for security of his Banigala residence, the spokesman added.
Moreover, he said, 36 personnel of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police and six from Gilgit-baltistan police had been deployed by their respective governments for Imran’s security.
The spokesperson said four vehicles and 23 personnel of Islamabad police and one vehicle and five personnel of the FC were dedicated to accompanying the PTI chairperson during the movement.
He further said that under the supervision of the interior ministry, a “threat assessment company is constantly reviewing maters pertaining to the security of Imran Khan.”
If the former premier “has any specific information, he should share it with the interior ministry so that further arrangements of security could be put in place”, the spokesman added.
“Being a former prime minister, it is [the] national responsibility of Imran Khan to keep the interior ministry and other relevant institutions informed about any possible threat to his life and other maters.”
He assured that further steps would be taken for the former premier’s security in light of the information shared by Imran.
Meanwhile, Rana Sanaullah downplayed the threat, saying that Khan was trying to build a narrative of a threat to his life, just like he had built one around a “US conspiracy” to oust his government.
In a series of tweets, he said if the PTI chief had any solid evidence of the possible threat to his life, he should immediately share it with the interior ministry.
The government, he said, was ready to probe the purported threat to Imran’s life and that a judicial commission could also be formed for this purpose if the PTI chief wanted.
“The judicial commission could review the evidence and information provided by Imran Niazi and take an independent decision,” Sanaullah said.
“If Khan doesn’t provide information pertaining to the threat to his life, this narrative too will be considered a political stunt, just like that of the US conspiracy. A former prime minister using a threat to his life as a political stunt is extremely unfortunate and could be dangerous,” the minister added.
Meanwhile, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has warned that if Imran was arrested, Pakistan will turn into Sri Lanka.
He said the incumbent coalition government has become directionless and was unable to handle the situation. “The government should call Nawaz Sharif back now.”
Ahmed said that if Khan is arrested, the PTI has already devised a strategy to deal with the situation, adding that the country would plunge into a political crisis and would witness a Sri Lanka-like situation.
Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of parties that successfully toppled the Pti-led government through a motion of no-confidence, Ahmed said that Khan had become the nation’s hero despite his ouster.