Toshakhana scandal: Shop owner denies buying Imran Khan's watch

In a video message, the alleged buyer of Toshakhana gifts denied buying the expensive watch from former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan.

According to the details, Muhammad Shafiq, an alleged buyer of Toshakhana gifts and owner of the Art of Times jewellery shop, denied purchasing Imran Khan’s expensive watch, gifted to the PTI chief on a foreign visit.

In his video statement uploaded on the social media platform Twitter, he said, “I didn’t buy the watch of former primer and I didn’t give any receipt. My letter pad and stamps were misused,” My name is being dragged over and over again for political gains.

Muhammad Shafiq warned to take legal action if his name dragged again in the scandal.

It is worth mentioning here that the watch gifted to former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sold to a local Islamabad trader for Rs51 million, last month. The trader then sold the watch to UAE trader Owais Merchant for Rs61 million.

The watch was then sold to a UAE personality, and the reported buyer of the watch Umer Farooq is a close friend of him, revealed in the ARY News talk show Off The Record.

Last month, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry claims that the party chief Imran Khan purchased the wristwatch from Toshakhana by the law and it was declared in the particulars of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

In his Twitter thread, Fawad Chaudhry said that the wristwatch was not sold to the person who had been presented as the buyer by a media group nor does the individual have a direct or indirect connection with Imran Khan.

He detailed that a Toshakhana gift could be owned by paying 25% of the original prices before the Imran Khan-led government which was increased by the PTI government up to 50%. The PTI leader said that a protocol officer of the foreign ministry receives the gifts during the foreign visits and all of the gifts are then submitted to the Toshakhana with a receiving slip.

The Toshakhana department was a subordinate institution of the Cabinet Division where an independent committee fixes the price of all state gifts and informs the prime minister or concerned minister.