Missing cypher: ‘Govt wants to divert attention from audio leaks’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has blamed the federal government for attempting to divert from audio leaks by missing cypher claims, ARY News reported on Friday.

While talking to ARY News, Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged that the federal government was involved in leaking audio clips of Imran Khan. He added, “The government wants to divert attention from its audio leaks and security lapse of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).”

The PTI vice-chairman said, “I am worried how classified documents went missing from PMO. If the classified document [cypher or diplomatic cable] went missing from PMO then it is a big security lapse.”

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He further said that the audio leaks have not disturbed Imran Khan. “We love Pakistan and there is nothing to worry about anything. It is our duty to defend our motherland when it comes to the national interests.”

Cypher ‘stolen’ from PMO

The cypher or diplomatic cable was ‘stolen’ from Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office and its copy went missing from the PMO’s record, officials told the federal cabinet members Friday.

The revelations were made in a briefing during the federal cabinet meeting chaired by PM Shehbaz Sharif today. The cabinet members took important decisions regarding the audio leaks related to the cypher.

A special committee has been constituted to probe into audio leaks. The National Security Committee (NSC) backed the decision of launching a thorough probe into the audio leaks.

READ: IMRAN KHAN CLAIMS ‘AUDIO LEAK’ DAMAGED SHEHBAZ SHARIF INSTEAD OF HIM

The cabinet members said that the leaked audio clips exposed the criminal conspiracy of the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.

It was revealed that the said cypher was ‘stolen’ from the PMO and its copy was removed from the records. The federal cabinet members expressed serious concerns over the ‘theft of cypher’ from the Prime Minister’s Office.

They said that the national interests were compromised for political gains by the previous PTI government by fabricating the contents of the diplomatic cable. “The cypher was stolen after fabrication, fraud and forgery. A serious violation of the oath, relevant regulations and Official Secrets Act was made and an unforgivable crime was committed against the state.”

They recommended ascertaining the responsible persons and imposing strict penalties in accordance with the law. The members said that the cypher’s copy was a classified document of the PMO as per law.

The federal cabinet decided to take legal action against the former prime minister, ex-principal secretary and former ministers.