FIR against Safdar Awan over mausoleum incident fake, says police to court

Karachi [Pakistan], November 10 (ANI): Police on Monday submitted a charge sheet to a local court, where they declared the FIR against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Safdar Awan, for violating the sanctity of Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum in Karachi, as fake.
The investigation report concluded that neither the complainant, Waqas Khan, nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, joined the investigation nor was the veracity of his claims established during the probe, which showed that he was not present at the mausoleum when the alleged offence took place, reported Dawn.
Earlier, the police had "arrested" Safdar Awan, the son in law of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, from the hotel he was staying in Karachi, hours after the PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz had lashed out at Imran Khan and his government during the second power show of PDM.
He was granted bail a magistrate's court against a surety of Rs 100,000. According to the FIR, Awan, his wife Nawaz and a cohort of their supporters violated the sanctity of the Quaid's mausoleum by creating a ruckus and chanting fiery political slogans inside.
They were also accused of intimidating people, reported Dawn.
The prosecution had earlier pointed out discrepancies in the previous charge sheet, noting that the investigation officer neglected to record statements of the independent witnesses available on the spot where the alleged offence took place.
It said that the officer failed to get the required approval from his senior officers before submitting the charge sheet and he neither attached the complaint moved by the administration officer of the mausoleum board nor recorded his statement.
However, the prosecution later approved a new, amended charge sheet, where it said that the offences would be tried under the Quaid-i-Azam's Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971, if the same complaint is routed through the concerned SHO on the application of the mausoleum's administrator.
On the applicability of the Pakistan Penal Code, it said: "We are of [the] firm opinion that despite efforts of IO, [the] complainant failed to join the investigation and preparation of memo of site inspection. Also absence of the complainant on the date and time is established with the CCTV footages and CDR collected by the IO."
PML-N leader and spokesman for Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz's and former Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair said that the IGP Sindh, Mushtaq Mehr, was 'kidnapped' by Rangers who forced him to file an FIR for Safdar's arrest.
The development caused extreme bitterness among the police officers who retaliated by submitting a leave of absence. (ANI)