Plot to kill Arshad Sharif concocted in Pakistan, claims Vawda  

Former lawmaker Faisal Vawda has claimed that the plot to kill a senior journalist Arshad Sharif was concocted in Pakistan, 24NewsHD TV channel reported Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, the PTI leader said the killing of Arshad Sharif was not an accident but it was a premeditated murder and fears there might be causalities in the PTI long march.

He said Arshad was either shot at close range or from inside the car.

“It is being said that around 20 bullets were shot and Arshad Sharif was killed. But this did not happen. According to me, he was shot from inside the car or close range. He received 2 bullets, in the head and chest, not 20 bullets.”

Vawda claimed that the story regarding a child’s kidnapping surrounding the journalist’s murder was false, saying that if a child was present in the case, why would the police open fire.

“This was cold planned brutal murder just of Arshad Sharif in this car, not anyone else.”

He said that he had made a video in which he had disclosed the names of the culprits.

Vawda said that irrespective of how a probe into his murder is launched by the government, evidence related to his killing — including his mobile phone, laptop, and documents — will never be found as they have been erased. 

The PTI leader maintained that Arshad was "chosen to be killed in Kenya by those who want to break the country."

Vawda also claimed that he was constantly in contact with Arshad till the very last day, adding that he is ready to hand over his phone for forensics to verify the authenticity of his statement. 

The PTI leader said that he won’t name the people involved in the crime. “I made video and have given names of those people […] I have given those names internationally. I have given millions of dollars. I have a clear message, if I am shot and killed then you’ll be killed too.”

He went on to claim that the “conspiracy began when FIRs (first information reports) were lodges against Arshad Sharif”, alleging that the journalist was not ready to leave the country.

“The conspirators scared him and made him desperate to leave the country. He then reached Dubai and it was said that the establishment or an unnamed institution put pressure to get him out but this is also false and a lie. He stayed in Dubai as per the visa limit, when it expired then he had to leave. The diversion to London was told but he didn’t go there,” Vawda claimed.

He said that Arshad Sharif was steadfast in his stance and no one could buy him. “In the coming days I will uncover all the curtains. I have told my family if something happens to me then as gifts you will get their bodies too."

“No normal person could have sent Arshad Sharif to Kenya. Who hid him and was in contact with him in Kenya? Behind it are those conspirators and liars who want to break the country, break my party and damage this country,” he alleged.

Vawda said that Arshad Sharif was threatened by the conspirators and forced to leave the country. He said that Arshad Sharif was neither running away nor leaving the country.

“Arshad Sharif was not in any danger from anywhere in Pakistan and he had a positive relationship with the establishment,” he maintained.

He added that Arshad Sharif was not expelled from Dubai rather he had to leave UAE after the expiry of his visa. It was said that Arshad Sharif went to London, but he did not go to London. There was a conspiracy behind the objectives told to Arshad Sharif, he added.

He said that the people who want to break the country are behind in sending Arshad Sharif to Kenya.  

The PTI leader claimed that Arshad Sharif was in contact with the establishment and he intended to return country.

The PTI leader claimed that neither Arshad Sharif's mobile phone nor laptop would be found and all the evidence relevant to the murder had been erased.

He said that he is foreseeing blood and causalities in Imran Khan’s long march.

“I see funerals in Imran Khan's long march and the game of dead bodies and blood should be stopped in this country,” he added.

The former minister warned that if something happened to me after my press conference, the wrong-doers would die within 3 to 5 hours.

The PTI leader further claimed that he knew the people who were behind Arshad Sharif’s murder.

A conspiracy is being hatched in the guise of the Long March narrative, many people including some dignities are going to fall in the coming days under the guise of the march, he said.

Vawda said that Imran Khan had asked Arshad Sharif to leave the country with good intentions.

“Arshad Sharif did not want to leave the country, he was forced to leave the country by threats. Who is benefiting from this move?”

The PTI leader said that Arshad Sharif was sent to Kenya, it was not a common man's business to arrange a farmhouse in Kenya and said he would take the names in the coming days who were behind this move.

Vawda said that there are some people in Tehreek-e-Insaaf who believe in this conspiracy narrative, if someone wants him to do politics on the death of Arshad Sharif, then he cannot do that.