Probe finds ex-Pak PM Imran Khan and top party leadership involved in orchestrating May 9 violence

According to Lahore police, Khan, 70, and over 900 other party leaders and activists named in the May 9 cases have been “declared guilty of serious offences”, the report said.

Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and several top leaders of his party were directly involved in orchestrating the unprecedented anti-government violence on May 9, a joint investigation team has informed an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was constituted to probe the violence in Punjab province following the arrest of Mr. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in connection with a corruption case on May 9.

The JIT headed by DIG Operations Imran Kishwar on Thursday submitted chargesheets against PTI leaders and hundreds of workers before an anti-terrorism court, reported the Dawn newspaper on Friday.

According to Lahore police, Khan, 70, and over 900 other party leaders and activists named in the May 9 cases have been “declared guilty of serious offences”, the report said.

In the chargesheets filed before the court, the prosecution alleged that the violent protests led by the suspects on May 9 were part of a planned conspiracy against the state.

It said over “400 pieces of video evidence, including speeches of the PTI chairman, proved that the attacks on military installations and premises in cantonment areas were pre-planned”.

A large number of PTI activists had attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties in Lahore, according to the cases registered with the police. The vandalism at the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House), Askari Tower, and the Shadman police station were some of the major incidents during the violence.