Daily Times

LAHORE: The State Bank in a letter to the joint investigation team, formed to probe the rape and murder of Zainab, confirmed that suspect Imran Ali had no commercial bank account in the country.

“All commercial banks have informed that they have searched their databases and found no account of the accused against the said CNIC,” the letter read.

Announcing the findings of the central bank during a news conference on Friday, Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmed Khan said that allegations regarding the primary accused by a television anchor were “fake and fabricated” and were issued without any consideration regarding consequences.

“The news presented by Dr Shahid Masood is absolutely fake and fabricated,” Malik Ahmed Khan said, adding that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had confirmed that no foreign currency commercial bank accounts of the accused were found.

The central bank had launched an inquiry after Dr Shahid Masood had alleged that Imran Ali, the main accused in the Zainab murder case, had dozens of bank accounts.

Malik further said that the apex court had taken suo motu and the case was currently sub judice.

While responding to a question regarding lawmakers named in relation to the child abuse issue in Kasur, the spokesman said that “those who faced character assassination” had the right to appear in court and clear their names. The State Bank of Pakistan had earlier confirmed it had received a request from the JIT regarding reports by a private media house suggesting that the accused, Imran Ali Naqshbandi, held several bank accounts.

The central bank had begun collecting details from banks concerning the allegations and had assured the JIT of its full cooperation in the case.

Meanwhile, the JIT has also completed its probe into the alleged bank accounts of the suspect but found no bank account under his name and CNIC data.

Earlier on Friday, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal too had said that the SC and media had been caught up in a “make-believe” story on the Kasur case propagated by the anchor and aimed at defaming the government. He said that the latest example of how social media is a “tool for fifth generation warfare” came about following the arrest of Zainab’s murderer when the Punjab government was being praised. “Suddenly a make-believe spin was thrown in which the media and the Supreme Court got caught up in.” “This proves how big of a tool of chaos and disruption social media is,” the minister said, adding that “it later turned out that the news run by an anchor, on which the Supreme Court also took notice, was entirely make-believe.”

Published in Daily Times, January 27^th 2018.