Pak Intelligence Bureau to probe PMO audio leaks

Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau has been ordered to investigate the security breach resulting in several audio leaks of privileged conversations in the Prime Minister's House.

The IB would probe the purported bugging of the Prime Minister's House after several audio leaks went viral on social media amid reports that a hacker put on sale on the dark web a massive data of recorded conversations not only of premier Shehbaz Sharif but also of his predecessor Imran Khan, reported The News International newspaper.

This extraordinary breach has set alarm bells ringing as the audio leaks are not only of telephonic conversations.

The first such leak, which was uploaded on social media, was a discussion between Prime minister Sharif and his Principal Secretary Tauqeer Shah in which the latter was heard saying that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz had asked him to facilitate her son-in-law Raheel Munir with the import of machinery for a power plant from India.

The report said that the newspaper has learnt that discussion between the two on this matter took place face-to-face, meaning thereby there were some bugging devices installed in the PM House.

Shah, in the leaked audio, has been heard saying that the facilitation in import would generate controversy and the prime minister, agreeing with him, directed his Private Secretary to convey the same to Maryam and that he would also speak with her on this, the report said.

In addition, Maryam wanted a grid station installed in a housing society owned by Raheel. On this, Sharif is heard saying this should be dealt with in a 'national way.' Another leaked clip making rounds on social media is related to Maryam's complaining to Sharif against Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and the way he is running the official business as skyrocketing inflation has hurt badly the poor segments of society.

In one clip, the niece and uncle are discussing deteriorating health conditions of former president Pervez Musharraf and that the government should not stop him from coming to Pakistan if there is any such move.

This breach has occurred despite the fact that there is a practice of daily search to check if there is any bugging device installed in the PM's Office or in his residential compound, a source told the newspaper.

This search is in line with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the IB, which is the main agency assigned the security of the prime minister, his office and house.

Recalling a past incident, the source said that security went on a high alert when Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister. As the proceeding in Supreme Court on the Panama Papers case was going on, a spy drone would hover over the residential compound of the prime minister and later at the IB Headquarters, which is located in the adjacent building.

The agency investigated the matter and conveyed to the concerned that the drone would be shot down if sent again.

A top government official dealing with internal security revealed that modern bugging technology that uses rays to listen to what is discussed in a closed-door meeting even at a distance of half a kilometre, was being used by certain foreign missions and operators to spy on almost all the government top offices surrounding the presidency, according to another report carried earlier by the newspaper.

In December 2009, the newspaper reported about an unidentified foreign hand involved in making efforts to bug the proceedings of a federal cabinet meeting by installing the latest equipment at a certain distance from the PM's Secretariat that was detected.

A special cabinet meeting was scheduled to be held with then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the chair on September 9, 2009, which was delayed for two hours due to non-clearance given by security agencies to the room in which the meeting was scheduled to be held on that day.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)