Faisal Vawda asks others in touch with Arshad Sharif to join official probe

Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda has reiterated his claim before federal investigators that the conspiracy to kill senior journalist and anchorperson Arshad Sharif was hatched in Pakistan as he called on others who were in contact with the journalist to join the official investigations.

Meanwhile, another PTI leader who also claimed to have been in close contact with the journalist, sent his own set of questions to investigators.

PTI leader Faisal Vawda, who had in a sensational news conference in Islamabad soon after Arshad Sharif’s murder had claimed that the plan to murder him was hatched in Pakistan, appeared before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday and answered their questions on all that he knew about the case.

Talking to the journalists after the hearing, he said that he has yet to submit evidences which he has with regards to his claims about Arshad Sharif’s case to the fact finding committee.

He added that investigators had provided him with a questionnaire with 10 questions to fill.

Vawda hoped that the committee will be able to nab the power people responsible.

He further said that media owner Salman Iqbal did not have any ties with the murder and invited him to return to Pakistan and join the investigation.

About the PTI, Vawda reiterated that he still considers Imran Khan his leader, but blamed some of his advisors for pushing him into a blind alley.

He suggested that Imran first clean up the party.

Asked if he was still in touch with Imran, Vawda denied having any contact with the PTI chief.

Murad Saeed refuses to cooperate with FIA

The FIA fact finding committee also summoned PTI leader Murad Saeed and sent him a questionnaire. Saeed, however, replied by sending a lit of 10 questions of his own as he termed the committee an extension of the federal government which was pursuing Arshad Sharif.

“Federal government was persecuting Shaheed Arshad Sharif in a number of cases, his life and liberty was under constant threat/peril primarily due to the reason that the state, instead of safeguarding him was buy incessantly persecuting him,” he wrote.

He questioned the ability of the committee to function and ascertain the truth independently.

He pointed to how Arshad Sharif’s mother had expressed a lack of faith in the government to deliver her justice and how she had to move the court to even obtain the post-mortem report of her son.

Sending his reply to FIA committee via instant messaging application Whatsapp instead of appearing in person before the committee as summoned, Saeed stated that only the judiciary was independent since it did not operate under the executive branch as he expressed a lack of trust in the government’s fact finding committee.

Saeed, though, said he would be willing to appear before a judicial commission constituted by the Supreme Court.

Instead, Saeed went on to raise 10 questions of his own with regards to:

• investigations into Shehbaz Sharif’s cases,

• those who opposed Arshad Sharif’s reporting,

• who threatened the journalist,

• who visited, harassed and threatened Arshad Sharif while he was in Pakistan

• who leaked images of Arshad Sharif taken at the immigration counter of Peshawar Airport while leaving Pakistan

• who was behind Arshad Sharif’s forceful exit from Dubai

• who visited the journalist in the lobby of the Dubai hotel and asked him to leave the country

• who directed the media to portray Arshad Sharif’s murder as an accident

• who was Arshad Sharif investigating when and was discussed in his vlogs before his murder

• why many hurried press conference were held after his murder which provided alleged incorrect information.

He said interior minister also tried to connect the murder of journalist with gold smuggling racket in Kenya.