After the cypher controversy the former prime minister’s principal secretary, Azam Khan, has also appeared as a witness in the investigation against PTI in the £190 million case.
The NAB had issued the notice to Azam Khan on July 20, summoning him to appear before the investigation team at 10 am on the scheduled day.
Azam Khan arrived at the NAB premises alone on Friday, where he was required to record his statement before the joint investigation team (JIT) of NAB.
During the session, he cooperated with the team and answered the questions raised during the course of the investigation.
Later, the NAB sought the complete record from Azam Khan, granting him time to submit a written answer.
Earlier, in a shocking revelation, the principal secretary to the deposed prime minister Azam Khan termed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo Imran Khan’s cypher narrative as “baseless” and claimed that it was concocted to deflect attention from an impending no-confidence motion.
Ex-principal secretary’s confession provides detailed insights into Imran Khan’s alleged strategy to manipulate public opinion and create a narrative against both the establishment and the opposition.
According to Azam Khan’s statement, when he presented the cypher to Imran Khan, the PTI chief displayed enthusiasm and referred to the language used as a “US blunder.” However, instead of treating it as a confidential document, Khan apparently saw an opportunity to exploit its contents for political gain.
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Former prime minister Imran Khan’s then-principal secretary Azam Khan has “recorded” a statement, terming the US cypher a “conspiracy” used by the ex-PM to “manipulate for creating a narrative against establishment and opposition,” Geo News reported Wednesday.
In response to the development, Imran termed Azam an “honest man” and said he would not accept the statement until he heard the bureaucrat say it himself.
Azam, who has been “missing” since last month, has recorded his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate, the sources added, with no information on his whereabouts.
Khan, ousted via a parliamentary vote in April last year, had alleged on March 27, 2022, that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office — and brandished the cypher at a public rally to back his claims. The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them “categorically false”.
In his confession, Azam claimed that when he shared the cypher with Imran, the former premier was “euphoric” and termed the language as a “US blunder”.
The ex-prime minister then said, according to Azam, that the cable could be used for “creating a narrative against establishment and opposition”.
The confession mentions that Khan also told Azam that the cypher could be used to divert the public’s attention towards “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.
Azam’s confession mentions that Imran told him he would display the cypher in front of the public and “twist the narrative that a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play [the] victim card”.
When Azam, according to the sources, told Imran Khan that the cypher was a secret document and its content could not be disclosed before the public, the then-premier suggested a formal meeting with then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and then-foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood “where they can read the cypher from the foreign ministry’s copy (as Imran Khan’s original copy was still lost) and from minutes of the meeting further decision can be made”.
The confession mentioned that the then-premier decided to call special meetings of the cabinet and the National Security Division to discuss the cypher and note down the minutes of the meetings.
However, he mentioned that till the time he was Imran’s principal secretary, the cypher was not returned to the Prime Minister’s Office as Imran had lost the original document.
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In a concerning turn of events, Azam Khan, the former principal secretary to deposed prime minister Imran Khan, has been reported missing since last night.
His family has also lodged FIR over Mr Azam’s disappearance at the Kohsar police station.
The FIR stated that Azam Khan did not return home after leaving yesterday evening, and his mobile phone is also switched off, further deepening concerns for his well-being.
Following the filing of the complaint, the police have assured that they are actively looking into the case and will make a decision once the investigation is concluded.
Taking to Twitter, the ex-prime minister shared a First Information Report (FIR) stating, “Azam Khan, who was my Principal Secretary, has gone missing since last evening.”
The PTI chairman further alleged that individuals perceived to be close to him are being targeted.
