ISLAMABAD: A “second instalment” of former premier Imran Khan’s leaked informal conversation on the US “cipher plot” surfaced, a situation that only got worse when the cabinet found later in the day that the copy of the “letter” received by his then principal secretary had gone missing from PM House.
The new audio, supposedly a continuation of the conversation featured in the previous recording, featured voices believed to belong to PTI leaders Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi allegedly strategising the “foreign conspiracy cipher” with the former premier and his then principal secretary Azam Khan — something Defence Minister Khawaja Asif believes attracted Article 6.
In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, the cabinet termed the cipher’s disappearance an “unpardonable crime” and constituted a committee to investigate the matter and place responsibility on those to be found involved in the case. The cabinet committee will comprise ministers and representatives from the ruling coalition parties.
“The cipher is missing from the official record of Prime Minister House but is available with the Foreign Office,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told Dawn after the meeting.
Asked how the scope of the cabinet committee would differ from that of an inquiry committee formed earlier to investigate the leaks, she said the new body would ascertain how the cipher’s copy received by former principal secretary Azam Khan went missing from Prime Minister House, whereas the previous committee was working to find out how conversations happened within the premises were leaked.
