Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused to undergo polygraph and voice matching tests as part of an investigation by Lahore police in connection with a dozen cases related to the unprecedented May 9 riots last year.

A 12-member forensic team reached Adiala Jail on July 23 to conduct the polygraph test on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.

The May 9 riots in 2023 were triggered across the country after the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a 190-million-pound corruption case. He faces over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.

The Lahore police team, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, arrived at the prison premises to conduct the tests, the Express Tribune reported.

They were accompanied by experts from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), the report said.

The PFSA experts were to perform polygraph, voice matching, and photogrammetry tests on the former prime minister.

The PTI founder answered the questions of the police for 15 minutes. However, Khan refused to undergo the polygraph test and other tests planned by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s team, the Nation newspaper reported.

Khan said he was under investigation by many institutions and he would give time to the police after the completion of his earlier inquiries, it said.

The police officials also questioned him about various aspects of the May 9 riots that targeted the Lahore corps commander’s residence, military installations and public properties, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Following their visit, the police team and PFSA experts briefed Lahore DIG Investigation Zeeshan Asghar on Khan’s lack of cooperation. The matter will be discussed in a meeting of senior police officers to devise a strategy for a follow-up visit in consultation with the prosecution department, the report said.

During the May 9 protests, alleged PTI workers and supporters attacked and vandalised military installations including the General Headquarters as well as monuments.

After the unprecedented violence, authorities swung into action and initiated a massive crackdown against the PTI while also holding trials of over 100 PTI workers in military courts.

Civil and military authorities have been accusing Khan of planning the May 9 conspiracy ahead of his arrest, a claim vehemently rejected by him and his party.

Khan denied giving orders for vandalising state properties but did acknowledge that he had asked his party to stage a peaceful protest outside the GHQ in case of his arrest.

Khan has been imprisoned at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for almost a year upon his conviction in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the cypher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case— in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.

Though the former-cricketer-turned-politician had secured bail or his conviction was set aside, he has not been released.

Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after his conviction in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been kept in jail in various cases.

File photo of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.
| Photo Credit: PTI

An accountability court in Pakistan on May 15 adjourned the hearing of the £190 million corruption case against Imran Khan till May 17, citing “security concerns” at the high-security Adiala prison where the former Prime Minister is currently imprisoned, media reports said.

The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder has been lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August last year.

The Islamabad accountability court accepted the request of the Adiala Jail’s superintendent to adjourn the hearing of the case against Mr. Khan due to ‘security concerns’, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The Court adjourned the hearing till May 17, it said.

In his request, the jail official cited reports received by the Punjab Home Department of the threat alerts on prisons in Punjab by banned organisations.

Asserting that the Adiala jail is the most sensitive prison in the province and houses more than 7,000 prisoners, the official said that criminals involved in serious crimes, including high-profile political entities, are also incarcerated there.

Security threats were also received for the Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi (Adiala) and Attock jails, said the request.

Following the reports, security was increased in and around the prison, and a mock exercise was also conducted by security forces there.

Surrounding areas were also being combed by security personnel, the paper said.

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On May 14, the Punjab Home Department imposed a ban on meeting of relatives and others with all prisoners in the Adiala Jail for three days owing to security concerns, the Dawn newspaper reported.

A ban on providing any items to prisoners was also imposed.

In March, the Punjab government banned Mr. Khan from holding any meetings, including with his family members, lawyers and party leaders for two weeks at the Adiala Jail.

The Al-Qadir Trust case is about the settlement of 190 million pounds, about ₹50 billion, which the U.K.’s National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from a Pakistani property tycoon.

Being the Prime Minister then, Mr. Khan, instead of depositing in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about ₹450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

Reportedly, the tycoon, in return, gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Mr. Khan and Bushra Bibi to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.

In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) initiated an investigation against the former cricketer-turned-politician, his wife and others in the case of alleged acquisition of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, resulting in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the exchequer.

Since his removal from power in a no-confidence motion in April 2022, Mr. Khan has been convicted in at least four cases, including the cipher (secret diplomatic communication) case.