Cipher case: Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s physical remand approved

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a day’s remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case, ARY News reported.

Judicial Magistrate Ehtisham Alam Khan issued the orders, asking the investigating officer to present the Qureshi again tomorrow.

Qureshi, who served as foreign minister, was arrested in the capital Islamabad on Saturday evening.

The first information report (FIR) – a copy of which is available with ARY News – was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act. It was registered on the complaint of Home Secretary.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were nominated in the report, while names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also mentioned.

According to the report, action also will be taken against Azam Khan and Asad Umar after the authorities reached the conclusion that they were also involved in misusing the classified documents.

The FIR stated that former prime minister and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cypher. “A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cypher to fulfill nefarious purposes”, it added. It further stated that former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests.

The report claimed that former prime minister asked Azam Khan – the then principal secretary – to “manipulate the contents of cypher”. “The former premier deliberately kept the copy of diplomatic cypher, which was sent to the PM office”, it added.