In statements before JIT, Imran Khan’s sisters deny involvement in May 9 riots

In a major development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's sisters — Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan — on Friday appeared before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with probing May 9 attacks on civil and military installations and recorded their statements.

The riots were triggered almost across the country after the PTI chief’s arrest in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9 which led to the deaths of at least eight people and injured several others, prompting the authorities to arrest thousands of PTI workers.

During the protests, the miscreants attacked the civil and military installations including — Corps Commander's House (Jinnah House) in Lahore Cantt and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

The military called May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.

According to police sources, Aleema and Uzma appeared before the JIT and recorded their statements in four cases related to the May 9 riots.

In their statements, both the sisters denied their involvement in the attack on the Jinnah House and damaging the public property during the violent protests triggered after Khan’s arrest.

Uzma, however, admitted that she was present in the protest held outside Jinnah House but denied her involvement in the vandalism inside the house.

In her testimony, Aleema told the JIT that she was at her Zaman Park residence during the May protests.

On July 24, an anti-terrorism court took action to initiate the process of declaring 21 PTI leaders, including Aleema and Uzma, absconders for their failure to cooperate with the investigation in the May 9 cases.

The police had informed the court that, despite being aware of their involvement in the cases, the PTI leaders did not comply with the investigation and are currently in hiding.

The police pleaded with the court to declare them absconders. Subsequently, the court, upon considering the police’s request, commenced the process to declare Aleema, Uzma, Aslam Iqbal, Hammad Azhar, Farrukh Habib, Murad Saeed, Zubair Niazi, Hassaan Niazi, Ali Amin Gandapur, Azam Swati, Andleeb Abbas and others absconders.

On the other hand, the deposed premier blamed the “agencies men” for arson and shooting in some areas during the May 9 violent protests.

In a tweet from his official handle, the former premier had said his party has “ample amount of evidence” to prove that agencies' men carried out arson and shootings during the protests to blame it on PTI.