‘Make-believe’ story aimed to defame govt efforts in Zainab case: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, while talking to media on Friday stated that the “make-believe” story of an anchorperson regarding possible bank accounts of the prime suspect in Kasur rape case was an attempt to defame the efforts of the government in apprehending the culprit, adding that the Supreme Court and media fell for the fabricated story.

Ahsan Iqbal stated that social media was being used as a tool to spin things out of the context and with regards to the new twist in the Zainab rape case, which came about after the as-yet unverified claims by anchorperson Shahid Masood, stated, “a make-believe spin was thrown in which the media and the Supreme Court got caught up”.

The minister further stated,”this proves how big of a tool of chaos and disruption social media is”, adding that “it later turned out that the news run by an anchor, on which the Supreme Court also took notice, was entirely make-believe.”

He warned that numerous such attacks could be expected as it was the election year.

“Make-believe, fictitious and false news stories will be spread by foreign agencies via social media,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday night, anchorperson Shahid Masood, in his show alleged that Zainab’s suspected rapist and murderer was a member of an international pornography gang which also allegedly includes a Punjab minister. He further stated that the suspect in custody for the murder of Zainab and other children is not is not as simple as he seems rather, he is a “member of an international ring”.

The anchorperson further stated that the suspect has 37 foreign currency bank accounts and the backing of one of the country’s most important person and a minister.

The Supreme Court, during the suo motto hearing of the Zainab murder case, summoned television anchorperson Shahid Masood on Thursday to explain the details he had revealed regarding the key suspect in Zainab’s rape and murder case during his late-night show.

The three-judge bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, watched footage of Masood’s TV show in court and asked Punjab Inspector General of Police Arif Nawaz Khan to probe the evidence provided by the anchorperson.

Similarly, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a six-member team after Shahid Masood’s show was aired.