LAHORE: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday refused to undergo polygraph and voice match tests as part of an investigation launched by Lahore police in connection with the unprecedented violence that erupted in the country last year.
A 12-member forensic team reached Adiala Jail on Tuesday and conducted a polygraph test on the 71-year-old Khan.
The riots on May 9, 2023, broke out across the country after Khan, 71, was arrested by the National Audit Bureau (NAB) in a £190 million corruption case. He faces more than 200 charges and has been jailed since August last year.
According to The Express Tribune, a team from Lahore Police led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police reached the prison premises and carried out the inspection.
They were reportedly accompanied by experts from the Punjab Forensic Science Authority (PFSA).
PFSA experts were due to subject the former prime minister to polygraph, voice matching and photogrammetry tests.
However, the PTI founder answered police questions for 15 minutes after DSP Asif vowed to administer justice but refused to undergo the said examination by a team from the Punjab Forensic Science Authority, reported The Nation.
The PTI founder said he was being investigated by many agencies and would give the police time once they had completed their investigations so far, the report said.
During the protests on May 9, PTI activists and alleged supporters attacked and vandalised military installations and monuments, including the General Headquarters.
This unprecedented violence prompted the authorities to act, launching a major crackdown on the PTI and also trying over 100 PTI officials in military courts.
Civilian and military authorities have accused Khan of planning the May 9 plot before his arrest, a charge Imran and his party strongly deny.
Khan denied ordering the destruction of state property but acknowledged asking his party to stage peaceful protests outside his headquarters in case they were arrested.
Khan has been incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala Jail for nearly a year after being convicted in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the cryptocurrency case and the non-Islamic marriage case. His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also incarcerated in the non-Islamic marriage case.
The former cricketer turned politician has not been released on bail or even after his conviction was quashed.
Khan was convicted in the first Tosha Khana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan and arrested on August 5 last year.
Since then, he has been in prison on various charges.
Published July 23, 2024 20:49 IST
