Will pen letter to Gen Munir on situation in crises-hit country: Imran Khan

Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has said that he will write a letter to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on the worsening economic and political crises in the cash-strapped country as the former ruling party seeking dialogues with the “real power”.

During an interaction with journalists in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on Monday, Imran said: “I will write a letter to the army chief on the [prevailing] situation in the country.”

The PTI founder made the remarks days after he assigned an “important responsibility” to former president Dr Arif Alvi, who had been making efforts to bridge the gap between the establishment and the former ruling party.

The deposed prime minister, who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April last year, had assigned Alvi with the task after turning down the military’s demand to apologise for the May 9 riots and distanced his party from the violent protests that broke out in the country last year soon after his arrest.

Responding to a question about the £190 million settlement case, the PTI founder said that Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had seized the amount after finding it “suspicious transactions” but not “money laundering”.

During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth 190 million pounds from a property tycoon.

“If the case goes on in the civil court, the money will not return to Pakistan for another 5 years.”

Private party and the UK’s NCA had demanded not to disclose the agreement, he added.

When the incarcerated former premier asked if he would call then special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on accountability Shehzad Akbar and Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Gogi, to prove his innocence, the PTI founder replied that he just met Gogi thrice and the meetings were related to his wife.

“Shehzad Akbar will be picked up from the airport if he returns homeland in this situation.”

It is pertinent to mention here that an accountability court in Rawalpindi, in February 2024, indicted Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million reference.

The £190 million settlement case

Imran Khan — Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders — is facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and the property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, Imran and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s NCA to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with the property tycoon.

They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.

During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth 190 million pounds from a property tycoon in Britain.

The agency said the assets would be passed to the government of Pakistan and the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.

Subsequently, then-prime minister Imran Khan got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.

It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.

Subsequently, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the then-PTI-led government approved the agreement with the property tycoon.

Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra, and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as members of the trust.

Two to three months after the cabinet’s approval, the property tycoon transferred 458 canals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of Imran, which he later transferred to the trust.

Later, Bukhari and Awan opted out as the trustees. That trust is now registered in the name of Imran, Bushra and Farah.

NAB officials were earlier probing the alleged misuse of powers in the process of recovery of “dirty money” received from the UK crime agency.

Following the emergence of "irrefutable evidence" in the case, the inquiry was converted into an investigation.

According to the NAB officials, the PTI founder and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.