ISLAMABAD: A court on Sunday approved one-day physical remand of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and handed him over to police custody.
The former foreign minister was produced in the court of Duty Magistrate Ehtisham Alam which heard the court as police sought his physical remand. The court ordered to produce Qureshi in the concerned court tomorrow (Monday).
“My conscience is satisfied. I am a prisoner of my conscious,” Qureshi told the court. He denied violating the Official Secrets Act and said he will continue supporting PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
It must be mentioned that PTI leader Asad Umar has also been arrested in the case regarding the missing classified document. Umar was arrested from his residence and handed over to the FIA.
A day earlier, FIA arrested Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the case after a case was registered against him in the missing cypher case.
Qureshi was arrested by a heavy contingent of police from his residence in Islamabad. He was transferred to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) headquarters.
He has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into diplomatic cypher which has gone missing from the possession of the PTI chief.
FIA registers case
It has been revealed an FIR was registered against Qureshi in the case on August 15 regarding the missing classified document. The case was registered against Qureshi under Section 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act.
A case has been registered against Qureshi on the complaint of Interior Ministry Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar. The FIR registered against Qureshi and other accused was filed after approval of the relevant authorities.
The complaint was registered by the Counter-Terrorism Wing of the FIA. The complaint said that Imran Khan, foreign minister Qureshi and their associates are involved in communication of information in secret classified documents by “twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a matter prejudicial to the interests of state security.”
The FIR said that conspiracy was hatched in a secret meeting in Banigala, the residence of the PTI chief in Islamabad, on March 28, 2022, to misuse the contents of the cypher and accomplish their nefarious designs at the cost of national safety.
It said the copy of the cypher sent to PM’s Office was deliberately kept in the custody of the former prime minister with “malafide intention” and never returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said the document is still in the possession of Imran Khan.
