‘Same elements behind Shahid Masood’s claims, PAT-led joint opposition protest’

LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday said that the ‘elements’ behind Dr Shahid Masood’s claims regarding the Zainab murder case and the joint opposition protest rally led by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief  Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri were “the same”.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, the minister said that no shreds of evidence were presented to support the claims linking accused Imran of the Kasur incident to an international group or the suspect having 37 bank accounts.

Labelling Dr Masood a “pawn”, Sanaullah said that “everyone knows from where these people’s strings are being pulled”.

After the Punjab government had declared Imran Ali—a prime suspect in Zainab murder case— as the serial rapist and killer of Kasur, Masood had come up with claims that Imran was not acting alone, but a member of a pornography gang, which also included a Punjab minister. Masood had also told the court that the suspect had 37 foreign accounts.

He said it needs to be investigated who gave the misleading information to Dr Masood and on whose signals did these people try to mislead the masses.

When the minister was questioned if he was referring to an institution or someone in particular, he said that he was referring to “the place” involved in spreading chaos in the country which the “media knows very well about”.

“Look at how on the 17th, those who used to abuse each other were brought together. The robots that came from Karachi, can they come on their own?” questioned the minister while speaking of the Mall Road rally led by Tahir-ul-Qadir.

“And when they got together, they abused the parliament,” recalled Sanaullah.

He claimed that the Punjab government has information about sugarcane growers being paid to burn their fields and carry out protests in Lahore despite CM Shehbaz ensuring an action against those not paying a fair price to the farmers.