Caretaker govt in Pakistan forms cabinet committee to probe May 9 violence against key Army installations

The Pakistan government has set up a cabinet committee to find out the masterminds, plotters, facilitators, and executioners of the May 9 violent incidents by the followers of jailed former premier Imran Khan, a media report said on Saturday.

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and hundreds of his party colleagues already face a multitude of cases in connection with the incident called a “criminal conspiracy” by the police.

The initiative to form this committee was taken on the directive of the caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, according to a report by the Geo News.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification for the establishment of the committee to be headed by Caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam.

The body would review the incidents of May 9, 2023, including attacks on military installations and it would be bound to submit its report within 14 days. It will also give recommendations for stopping such happenings in the future and review the immediate and long-lasting impacts of the May 9 incidents.

Khan's party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Anoosh Masood had on September 20, 2023, said PTI’s Khan and all others nominated as suspects in the probe into the May 9 riots had been charged with “criminal conspiracy.” Addressing a press conference in Lahore, she had said that nine additional sections on treason had been included in the challans for the cases of vandalism and violence that erupted after the deposed prime minister's arrest in the infamous £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) UK settlement case on May 9, against all the suspects, including Khan.

The investigation official had said evidence of inciting mutiny and planning vandalism had been found against the PTI chief. “Section 120(B) [pertaining to punishment of criminal conspiracy] of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) has been added to all the cases related to the May 9 incidents,” Masood had said.

Khan, 71, is incarcerated at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case and being tried under multiple other cases, including the one under the Official Secrets Act in connection with the May 9 violent protests by his supporters that damaged key military installations across Pakistan.

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