The coalition government has decided to constitute a high-powered joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the attack on the judicial complex and law enforcement agencies by PTI supporters during the appearance of Imran Khan in a court regarding Toshakhana case. Sources said the Shehbaz-led led coalition government had decided to form a JIT to investigate the violent attacks by armed groups on police and courts and take legal action against the PTI, its leadership and workers for challenging the writ of the state.

Islamabad police had registered a first information report (FIR) against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders on March 18 for their alleged involvement in attacking cops, setting ablaze vehicles and destroying property. Sources further said senior officers of the interior ministry, police and intelligence agencies would be part of the JIT to probe the attack and injuries inflicted on the police at the Federal Judicial Complex.

The JIT will gather facts about the petrol bomb attacks as well as the participation of militants of proscribed organisations in the attack on the judicial complex. It will also investigate who fired teargas shells on the police and who provided them with those. The JIT will also determine those responsible for inciting the public against the state institutions.

The JIT would be submitting its report within seven days, sources said, and added that the government would take legal action against the culprits in the light of the report.

-- Case registered for vandalism at Islamabad Judicial Complex --

On March 1, the Islamabad Police registered a case against vandalism at the Judicial Complex Islamabad during the appearance of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in courts. The first information report (FIR), registered under ATA 7/353 and other sections, stated that arms were recovered from some persons in the crowd and it was an attempted attack on the Judicial Complex in Sector G-11.

It noted that security arrangements at the Judicial Complex were disrupted as the PTI workers removed all the barriers during their leader’s appearances in the different courts. Some of the workers even vandalised the building and undermined the decorum of the courts. The Islamabad Police spokesperson, in a post on Twitter, said at least 25 persons had been arrested with a Kalashnikov and other weapons.

Under a premeditated plan, he said, the mob attempted to attack the Islamabad High Court and the Judicial Complex. Police teams had been dispatched to different provinces to arrest the people involved in the incident, he added. The spokesperson, in a statement, claimed that the leaders of a political party provoked the mob, who resorted to vandalism. He said the government property was damaged at the Judicial Complex, while the police managed to prevent the mob from damaging the High Court.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP