Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused to undergo polygraph and voice matching tests as part of an investigation being conducted by Lahore police in connection with a dozen cases related to the unprecedented riots of May 9 last year.
A 12-member forensic team reached the Adiala jail on Tuesday to conduct a polygraph test on the 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician.
Riots broke out across the country on May 9, 2023, when the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a £190 million corruption case. He has more than 200 cases registered against him and has been in jail since August last year.
According to the Express Tribune report, a team of Lahore Police led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police reached the jail premises to conduct the test.
He was accompanied by experts from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), the report said.
The PFSA experts were to conduct polygraph, voice matching and photogrammetry tests on the former prime minister.
The PTI founder answered police questions for 15 minutes. However, Imran Khan refused to undergo a polygraph test and other tests planned by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency team, The Nation newspaper reported.
Imran Khan said he was being investigated by several organisations and he would give time to the police after his previous investigation was completed.
The police officials also questioned him about various aspects of the May 9 riots in which the Lahore Corps Commander’s residence, military establishments and public properties were targeted, the Dawn newspaper reported.
After their visit, the police team and PFSA experts briefed Lahore DIG Investigation Zeeshan Asghar about Imran Khan’s lack of cooperation. The matter will be discussed in a meeting of senior police officials to chalk out a strategy for a follow-up visit in consultation with the prosecution department, the report said.
During the 9 May protests, alleged PTI workers and supporters attacked and vandalised military installations, including the General Headquarters and monuments.
Following the unprecedented violence, the authorities swung into action and launched a massive crackdown against the PTI, also prosecuting over 100 PTI activists in military courts.
Civilian and military officials have been accusing Imran Khan of plotting the May 9 attacks before his arrest, a claim vehemently denied by Imran and his party.
Imran Khan denied ordering the damage to government property, but admitted that he had asked his party to stage a peaceful protest outside the GHQ in the event of his arrest.
Imran Khan has been lodged in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala jail for nearly a year after being convicted in three cases – Toshakhana corruption case, Sifar case and un-Islamic marriage case – in which his wife Bushra Bibi is also jailed.
Though the former cricketer-turned-politician has got bail or had his conviction annulled, he has not been released.
Imran Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after being convicted in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then he has been in jail in various cases.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
