File photo of the Punjab IGP addressing a press conference
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar on Sunday announced that police will challenge an Anti-Terrorism Court ruling discharging Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr. Yasmin Rashid from a case regarding the May 9 attack on the Lahore Corps Commander’s house, alleging that she was a “key planner” of the riots.
Addressing a press conference alongside Lahore police chief Bilal Siddique Kamyana, SSP investigation Anoosh Masood Chaudhry, and SSP Imran Kishwar, Anwar maintained that attacks on military installations on May 9 had been “well-planned by PTI leaders.” Alleging that the police investigation had found 41 calls between Rashid and other PTI leaders on May 9 as “evidence” to prove their complicity in the attacks on military installations, he played some video footage for the media that he claimed showed the “planning” for the attack on the Lahore Corps Commander’s house.
The IGP further alleged that other PTI leaders, including Hammad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Murad Raas, had also appeared on call records proving their “direct involvement” in the May 9 riots. “We are confident to prove in a court of law that these PTI leaders were not innocent and that the attacks were not carried out all of a sudden in reaction to the arrest of the PTI chairman,” he said, adding police would present this evidence in court when they challenged the discharge orders.
According to local media, the ATC judge who ordered Rashid’s discharge from the case “ignored” eyewitness statements against Dr. Rashid. Punjab Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir has already alleged that the judge is “biased,” sharing social media posts of his that outright support the PTI. To bolster its allegations, the Punjab police also released a forensic analysis report that “confirmed” the presence of Rashid at the Corps Commander’s house. “After forensic comparison analysis, it was concluded that the facial features of the accused person [Dr. Rashid] seen in the reference images and videos contained in the DVD (item#6) matched with one of the accused persons seen in the videos mentioned above at serial number 1 and 3 contained in the USB (item#5),” read the report.
Inciting calls
During his press conference, the IGP alleged that various PTI leaders made 215 calls to incite the mob in Lahore to attack the Corps Commander’s house. Of these, he said, 41 calls were by Dr. Rashid; 75 by Mehmoodur Rasheed; 50 by Ijaz Chaudhry; 16 by Mian Aslam Iqbal; 23 by Murad Raas, and 10 by Hammad Azhar. He claimed that 50 calls from Mianwali were made to the “five top leaders” of the PTI ahead of the attack on the Mianwali airbase, adding 88 calls were detected regarding the attack on GHQ in Rawalpindi.
Anwar said police had thus far identified 708 suspects allegedly involved in the attack on the corps commanders’ house, of which 125 were in custody. He claimed another 170 attackers had been traced through WhatsApp groups and messages.
In a harsh stance, the police chief criticized the PTI’s “social media influencers,” accusing them of sharing false information about the torture of party workers. Alleging “old video clips and photos” were being shared to “defame” law enforcement agencies, he regretted that that police had no choice but to approach the FIA to initiate cases against such fake news.