Interior minister says through false statements PTI chief misled youth and injected poison into their minds n May 9 rioters will be punished in military courts.

ISLAMABAD  -   Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan on Tues­day said that former prime minister Imran Khan failed to provide any evidence to the joint investigation team (JIT) regarding his allegations that Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif, ISI officer Maj Gen Faisal Naseer and he (interior minis­ter) were behind assas­sination attempt on the opposition party leader.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that the ex-pre­mier proved himself a liar before the JIT as he could not substanti­ate his allegations with some evidence.

The remarks of the minister came a day after opposition Paki­stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan appeared before a po­lice-led JIT in connec­tion with a case reg­istered against him in Islamabad.

Rana Sanaullah said that Khan admitted be­fore the JIT that all vid­eos and his statements about levelling allega­tions that the PM, a se­nior officer of Pakistan Army and interior min­ister were behind the Wazirabad assassina­tion attack against him.

“But during question­ing, Imran Khan proved himself a liar,” the min­ister said.

He said that when the ex-premier was asked who told him about the plan of killing, Khan told the investigators that someone had informed him. But when pressed to name the person, the PTI chief said that he was un­able to remember, he add­ed. The interior minister said that the chairman PTI had signed his statement, which was now a certified docu­ment. “Imran Khan through his false statements misled the youth and injected poi­son into their minds.” On the other hand, Khan in a twit­ter statement responded to his leaked statement where­in he told the JIT that In­ter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (Counter Intelligence) Maj Gen Fais­al Naseer had never direct­ly threatened him and he had no proof to justify his allega­tions against him. “Question is, how can I provide evidence when I could not register an FIR against Gen Faisal Naseer who I know was not only be­hind the plot to assassinate me (along with Rana Sanaul­lah and Shehbaz Sharif),” he said. He again alleged that the officer was also involved in the cover up that followed where he sabotaged the JIT report which had concluded that three shooters were in­volved. During his press con­ference, Rana Sanaullah also talked about the incidents of May 9 regarding vandalism and arson attacks on civil and military installations and said that investigation was under­way into the violent protests. He alleged that Israel and oth­er enemies of Pakistan sup­ported and funded PTI to cre­ate chaos in the country. He said the PTI chief wanted to raise one million tiger force to attack the country. He said this tiger force was support­ed with billion of rupees in the shape of loans and foreign funding to attack national in­stitutions and create social media hype against the Army Chief and the institutions.