Imran Khan booked under anti-terrorism law after murder of Supreme Court lawyer

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been booked under the anti-terrorism law in the murder case of a supreme court lawyer, his party said on Wednesday.

Advocate Abdul Razzaq Shar was killed on Tuesday in a drive-by shooting in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, while on his way to the provincial high court when targeted by the unknown assailants.

Shar’s son Siraj Ahmad registered a case on Tuesday, accusing in his FIR that his father was killed at the behest of Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chairman.

The PTI party, in a WhatsApp message, confirmed that Khan, 70, was named in the FIR lodged at the Shaheed Jamil Kakar police station of the city.

According to the copy of the FIR shared by the party, the complainant told police that his father had registered a case against Khan and he was receiving threats. “I name Imran Khan in the FIR because threats were being given to my father at his behest,” he said.

Shar had filed a constitutional petition against Khan and former deputy speaker Qasim Suri in the Balochistan High Court for proceedings under Article 6 that pertained to high treason for illegally dissolving the National Assembly in April 2022 after the joint opposition had moved a no-trust motion against the PTI government.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s aide Attaullah Tarar had alleged that Shar was killed at the behest of Khan to evade accountability in a treason case.

PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan rejected the claim and instead accused Prime Minister Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of planning the murder.

Separately, a case of fraud was filed against Khan at Islamabad’s Kohsar Police Station on June 6 for presenting fake receipts to buy Toshakhana gifts.

Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and his former aides Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari, and a friend of Bibi, Farah Gogi, have been named in the case.

The complainant, a local watch dealer, stated that Khan used fake receipts from his shop to buy and sell the Toshakhana watch.

Khan has already been disqualified in the Toshakhana case by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which also filed a criminal case against him in a district court where the PTI leader had already been indicted.

The case is based on allegations that he sold gifts, including an expensive watch, he received from foreign dignitaries and failed to declare the profit with the ECP.

Khan is facing over 100 cases across the country since he was ousted from power in April last year.