Adiala Jail’s Deputy Superintendent Muhammad Akram has been arrested on charges of aiding the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, Imran Khan.
Akram was removed from his position on June 20, with Deputy Superintendent Judicial Tahir Siddique Shah appointed as the new security supervisor for Imran Khan.
The Punjab Home Department (Prison Section) issued a notification for Akram’s removal, instructing him to relinquish his duties and report to the Prisons Department in Lahore.
Law enforcement agencies have begun interrogating the senior officer of Central Jail Rawalpindi, commonly known as Adiala Jail.
Sources allege that Akram secretly transmitted messages from the jailed PTI founder to contacts outside the prison.
The law enforcement agencies formally notified the Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, about Akram’s arrest and the ongoing investigation. Upon completion of the probe, Akram may face departmental action.
The 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician has been in prison for over a year, facing multiple cases, including the Toshakhana case, the cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case.
His wife, Bushra Bibi, has also been incarcerated for months.
Although a court suspended Imran Khan’s sentence in the Toshakhana case and other courts overturned his convictions in the cipher and iddat cases, hopes for his and Bushra Bibi’s release in July were dashed when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested them on new charges related to the sale of state gifts.
Imran Khan’s chances of release further diminished after Lahore Police declared his arrest in several cases linked to the May 9, 2023 riots, which erupted following his detention at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises last year. The riots saw protesters targeting government and military installations.
