Wednesday May 10, 2023
Jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed fears that he could be killed by slow poisoning in prison.
While the former prime minister - who was arrested by Rangers of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Al-Qadir Trust case - expressed his fear, he informed the court in charge that the authorities "give an injection that causes a person to die slowly".
During the proceedings, the PTI chairman sought medical treatment from his doctor, Dr. Faisal Sultan, adding that he wanted to avoid the treatment given to Maqsood chaprasi.
Malik Maqsood Ahmad alias Maqsood chaprasi - a key figure in the Rs 16 billion money laundering case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his family - died in the UAE of cardiac arrest in June 2022. Expressing doubts, PTI sought an independent probe to find out , the real cause of his death.
In addition, following an assassination attempt on him in November last year, the former prime minister - who was ousted in a no-confidence motion in April 2022 - alleged that a senior military officer, Prime Minister Shehbaz and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, of whom all have denied the charges. Khan has also yet to provide any evidence to the authorities.
During the proceedings conducted on police lines in Islamabad, the former prime minister informed the court that he was shown the arrest warrants when the Rangers personnel brought him to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office.
On Tuesday, Rangers personnel riding a black Toyota Hilux Vigo took Imran Khan from IHC to NAB Rawalpindi.
"NAB is saying they want to compile records," Khan said, questioning which record the anti-graft watchdog is demanding, "I don't accept".
The former prime minister added that all transactions were done after approval by the cabinet. He was of the opinion that there are two options to get the money back — settle out of court or go to court. He alleged that the government had spent over Rs 100 crore on the legal process.
The former prime minister - along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders - is facing a NAB probe related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon that allegedly cost the exchequer £190 million.
According to the indictment, Khan and others are alleged to have modified Rs 50 billion - £190 million at the time - sent by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of a deal with the property tycoon.
They are also accused of receiving undue benefit in the form of more than 458 kanals of land in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
During PTI's rule, UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) seized assets worth £190 million from a property tycoon in Britain.
The agency said the assets would be handed over to the Pakistani government and the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was "a civil matter and does not constitute a finding of guilt".
Subsequently, on December 3, 2019, Prime Minister Khan received approval from his cabinet to settle with the British Crime Agency, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
It was decided that the money would be presented to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
Subsequently, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad weeks after the Imran-led government approved the deal with the property tycoon.
