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Wednesday, 12 October, 2022 I 15 Rabi ul Awwal, 1444 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 103 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
IMran, 10 other PtI leaders charged wIth ProhIbIted fundIng ISLAMABAD
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Staff rePort
HE Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday registered a case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and 10 others leaders in prohibited funding case. The case was filed by the state through FIA’s Corporate Banking Circle in Islamabad. The first information report (FIR), stated that Arif Masood Naqvi — the owner of the Wooton Cricket Limited — transferred “ill-gotten” money to a United Bank Limited (UBL) account registered under the name of the PTI. The First Information Report (FIR) stated that the accused including former premier Imran Khan violated Foreign Exchange Act and all of the nominated persons were beneficiaries of the private bank account. The nominated persons included Sardar Azhar Tariq, Saifullah Nyazee, Syed Younus, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Tariq Shaikh and Tariq Shafi, whereas, the manager
of the private bank was also nominated in the FIR. According to the FIA, PTI had a private bank account titled Naya Pakistan, whereas, the bank manager illegally permitted to operate the account. It read that $2.1 million had been deposited by Abraaj Group, whereas, PTI had submitted Arif
Naqvi’s affidavit to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the company deposited the huge sum of money to the political party’s bank account. The FIA stated in the FIR that the affidavit was false and counterfeit. The political party had also received funds from Wootton Cricket and the head of the private bank
facilitated the accused by providing suspicious records. “The purpose stated in the swift messages of the transactions is ‘agreed transfer’ to disguise the true nature, origin, location, movement and ownership of these funds. Arif Masood Naqvi is also the founder/owner of Abraaj Group, UAE, which collapsed in 2018. Arif Masood Naqvi lied about the performance of Abraaj’s funds by inflating their value,” the complaint added. “Therefore, Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) imposed penalties on two Abraaj Group companies for carrying out unauthorised activities in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and misusing investors’ money. The regulator imposed penalties amounting to $299.30 million on Abraaj Investment Management Limited and Abraaj Capital respectively.” It further said that Naqvi was also facing trials in the United Kingdom and the United States for defrauding investors.
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Swat sit-in ends after successful talks SWAT Syed Shahabuddin
The almost-two-day-long sit-in, staged in protest against attack on a school van in Gulibagh area of Swat, was ended after successful negotiations between the District Administration and the bereaved family here Tuesday. The protestors had been demanding arrest of the perpetrators of the attack, threatening to march to Islamabad if the authorities failed to accept their demands within 24 hours. It is to be noted unidentified accused had fired upon van of a private school on Monday, killing its driver Hussain Ahmed while a secondgrader Mamoon sustained critical gunshot wounds. Following the incident, the affected family, accompanied by locals, staged a sit-in by placing the dead body on MingoraKhwazakhela Highway at Gulibagh area of Charbagh Tehsil. The sit-in virtually left the road blocked for all kinds of traffic. According to Rescue 1122 officials, the van was taking students to a school in Gulibagh area of Charbagh tehsil when unidentified assailants, riding on a motorcycle, had opened fire. The driver was killed on the spot, while two
students were moved to the hospital after sustaining injuries. The protestors reacted strongly to the lack of any action on the part of the government. Early on Tuesday, the negotiation team headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Swat Sohail Khan held talks with the affected family and local elders. The administration team acknowledged
the protestors demands and assured that the family of the martyred driver will be provided “martyr package” while his children will be supported by the government. They also assured a family member of the martyr will be provided a government job.
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Marriyum accuses Imran of misguiding public with ‘persistent lying, fabricated narratives’ ISLAMABAD aPP
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday warned the citizens against PTI Chairman Imran Khan who was bent upon misguiding the public with his persistent ‘lies and fabricated narratives’. “The people should save themselves from the ‘absolutely fraud and foreign-funded Fitna’ (Imran), who laughs at them behind closed doors after befooling them,” Marriyum said while addressing a news conference.“Liar is the only term which can perfectly define the personality of Imran Khan,” she maintained, referring to his ‘repeated lies, aimed at misleading the nation’. The minister claimed: “President Arif Alvi, who once held the post of Secretary General of PTI, has declared Imran Khan a liar and endorsed that this person speaks nothing but lies.” Imran Khan, she said, spent his complete energy on creating narratives to cover up his “thefts, hypocrisy and lies” by misleading the public. In fact, she said, Imran had assumed that the people would start believing “the lies and accusations if the same are repeated ad nauseam, she stressed. However, “this drama will come to an end when the people will start realizing that he is a liar and ‘foreign funded Fitna’”, she added. The people should ask themselves how a person could take oath on the same Constitution which he had violated in the past. Pointing out Imran Khan’s inquisitive trait, she said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief started questioning others, rather hurling allegations when asked about his own loot and plunder of the national wealth. Ironically, when Imran Khan was asked about the foreign funds received by his party, he started demanding accountability of the other parties, she said. The PTI had failed to furnish even a single evidence before the ECP about other parties which could prove that either they had received funding from a foreign national or company. Imran Khan should better answer about his own party’s foreign funding, which had been validated by the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the relevant case, she added. The minister urged the people to connect all the dots and view the PTI’s foreign funding in the context of its fouryear rule, which was marred by flawed economic and political policies.
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Punjab Home Minister steps down; Aslam Iqbal likely to take charge ISLAMABAD Mian abrar
Punjab Minister for Home and Prisons Col (R) Hashim Dogar Tuesday tendered resignation owing to severe criticism from the senior leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and lack of support from his ministry. Informed sources have confided in Pakistan Today that Col Dogar was conveyed by PTI chairman Imran Khan to step down. Mian Aslam Iqbal is likely to replace Col Dogar as Home Minister Punjab. Aslam Iqbal has been very vocal against the rivals of the PTI recently and sources said that his press conference against PTI rebel Abdul Aleem Khan was aimed at getting attention of Imran Khan which is about to bear fruit now. “Today I have resigned from my post due to personal reasons. InshaAllah I will continue to work as a PTI worker,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle while sharing his resignation letter. Dogar said he had sent his resignation to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for approval. According to
sources, Dogar’s resignation will be accepted and then he will be assigned the portfolio of another ministry. He was sworn in as the provincial interior minister in August this year. Col Dogar has been under severe criticism for his failure in handling the affairs of Home Ministry and the PTI ac-
tivists and leaders have been quite critical of his performance. Per sources, Col Dogar was helpless and could not implement most of the tasks assigned by the party leadership due to non-cooperative behaviour of Inspector-General of Police Punjab, Mr Faisal Shahkar. The sources said that the PTI leadership and workers were unhappy with the performance of Mr. Dogar as he has allegedly failed to give tough time to the PML-N leaders and workers and also failed to punish those police officials who had resorted to worst torture against PTI workers during Long March on May 25. The sources added that no action has been taken against the police officials, who are involved in subjecting the PTI leaders and activists to brutal torture during the May 25 Long March as IGP Punjab was protecting those police officials. Earlier, a tug of war started between the Centre and the Punjab government over the removal of Ghulam Mahmood Dogar from the post of Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore also took an ugly turn.
The sources said that IGP Punjab was appointed by outgoing chief minister Hamza Shehbaz and he was not cooperating with the PTI government. Hence, Col Dogar was taking the toll for lack of institutional support. “It’s a pity that the Punjab government can neither surrender the IGP as
federal government is not ready to transfer any other officer requested by the Punjab government. This is like same situation which we saw back in year 1993-96 when the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto was facing immense pressure from the then chief minister Punjab Nawaz Sharif who had IGP of his choice, Chaudhry Sardar Mohammad, who stood by Sharif to confront the prime minister,” the source said. The sources said that Punjab Chief Minister was already facing heat due to rebellion by Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal who went on leave and is reluctant to report back while the officer on look after charge is also reluctant to sign any summary. The sources said that Mr Dogar also came under heavy criticism from PTI top leadership for his recent statement that Punjab government would not provide any resources to the PTI leaders during the upcoming long march. Despite repeated efforts, spokesman of Chief Minister Punjab Fayyazul Hassan Chauhan did not respond to calls made at his cell phone.