The lawyer of the prime accused in the assassination attempt on PTI chief Imran Khan during the Azadi March in Wazirabad on November 3 has called his client’s detention ‘illegal’ while casting aspersion on the findings of the joint investigation team (JIT).

In a press conference on Thursday, Advocate Mian Dawood said that the JIT constituted by the Punjab government had ‘distorted facts’ and ‘wasted evidence’ while calling for his client Naveed Bashir’s immediate release from the ‘illegal detention’. According to the JIT report, the attack on Imran was carried out from three different shooting sites.

Advocate Dawood said that the JIT report was prepared at Zaman Park, PTI chief Imran’s Lahore residence. He claimed that its purpose was to save Imran Khan’s guard who was implicated in the murder of a bystander, Moazzam.

Moazzam, a PTI worker, died and 14 others including the former prime minister and PTI leaders, were injured in the attack at Wazirabad’s Allah­wala Chowk, where the party’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ march against the federal government had stopped on its way to Islamabad. Initial reports had claimed that the bystander was shot from retaliatory fire by one of the guards on Imran’s container.

“If there is an investigation, then Moazzam’s killer would turn out to be Imran Khan’s guard,” he said. The JIT has changed the situations and events, he said while holding Imran and the Punjab government responsible for it.

The advocate cited PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry’s press conference a day earlier, claiming it had solved half the case.

Fawad had said that the forensic test of the weapons used by Imran’s guards established that none of them fired a single shot. The PTI leader had claimed that the PTI worker was killed by a bullet aimed at the detained shooter. Fawad said that it was done to take out the alleged shooter before he was taken into custody.

It warrants mention here that the lawyer’s press conference was broadcast on state TV, with PTI quick to question the motive behind the decision.

Meanwhile, journalist and YouTuber Asad Ali Toor tweeted a video from inside the police station in Wazirabad. The video was shared with the claim that the district police officer used his influence over his subordinates to record the statement of the accused.