ISLAMABAD -UNS: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi from his residence in Islamabad on Saturday and booked him under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 in a case pertaining to a diplomatic cypher.
The FIA is currently interrogating incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan in the case related to the diplomatic cable that reportedly went missing from his custody and which he has for long presented as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to remove him as the prime minister.
The first information report (FIR) registered against Qureshi by the FIA refers to the matter and invokes Sections 5 (wrongful communication of information) and 9 (attempt to commit or abet the commission of an offence under this Secrets Act) of the Official Secrets Act read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, has been registered on the complaint of Ministry of Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar.
According to the FIR, on March 7, 2022, the then-foreign secretary received a cipher dispatched from Washington. It said that a conclusion of a case registered with the FIA’s counter terrorism department on Oct 5, 2022 transpired that former prime minister Imran Khan, ex-foreign minister Qureshi and their other associates “are involved in the communication of information contained in [the] secret classified document … to unauthorised persons (ie public at large)”.
The cipher, which US-based news website Intercept recently claimed to have obtained and published, was waved by former PM Imran at a public gathering days before his ouster from the top office as proof of a conspiracy to remove his government.
The FIR registered by the FIA accused Imran, Qureshi and their associates of sharing the information contained in the cipher “by twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security”.
“They held a clandestine meeting at [Imran’s] Bani Gala [residence] on March 28, 2022 to conspire to misuse the contents of the cipher in order to accomplish their nefarious designs.
“The accused Imran Khan […] with malafide intention directed his then principal secretary Muhammad Azam Khan to prepare minutes (record notes) of the said clandestine meeting by manipulating the context of the cipher message to use it for his vested interest at the cost of national safety.”
The FIR further alleged that the numbered and accountable copy of the cipher sent to the PM’s Office was “deliberately” kept by then-premier Imran with “malafide intention” and was never returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The said cipher (an official secret document classified as such) is still in the illegal possession/ retention of the accused Imran Khan. The unauthorised retention and misuse of the cipher telegram by the accused persons compromised the entire cypher security system of the state and secret communication method of Pakistani missions abroad,” it said.
The FIR added: “These actions by the accused persons directly/ indirectly benefitted the interest of foreign powers and caused loss to the state of Pakistan.
“The competent authority has granted approval for the registration of the case. Therefore, at police station CTW FIA , Islamabad, prima facie, a case under Section 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act read with Section 34 of the PPC is registered against former PM Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for wrongful communication/ use of official secret information and illegal retention of the cipher telegram (official secret document) with malafide intention, whereas as role of SPM Azam Khan, former federal minister Asad Umar and other associates involved will be ascertained during the coarse of investigations.”
The arrest
Earlier today, the PTI posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the party’s vice chairman “has been illegally arrested once again”. The statement said Qureshi was taken into custody “by a large contingent of police” from his residence in the federal capital, adding that he was being taken to the FIA headquarters.
