PTI founder declines to name operators of his social media accounts
RAWALPINDI: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan refused to disclose who manages his social media accounts, saying, “If I tell, they will be kidnapped,” Geo News reported.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, made the remarks during an on-site cyber crime’s team investigation at Adiala Jail, people familiar with the matter told Geo News.
A special three-member team from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) led, according to sources, by Additional Director Ayaz Khan, along with two Sub Inspectors, namely SI Muneeb Zafar and SI Muhammad Waseem Khan, visited Adiala Jail to question the PTI founder about posts and the operation of his X and other social media accounts.
When investigators pressed Khan he became agitated, at one point trying to leave the room. He accused the lead investigator of personal bias, saying that the additional director had filed “cipher” and fake-account cases against him in the past.
“I don’t even want to see Ayaz Khan, his conscience is dead,” the former premier told investigators.
Investigators also asked directly whether foreign nationals or agencies were involved, including whether Jibran Ilyas or foreign services such as the CIA, RAW, or Mossad were operating the accounts.
According to the transcript, Khan dismissed the allegations, saying: “My accounts are not run by Jibran Ilyas. Jibran Ilyas is the most patriotic […] and you know who is with Mossad.”
The team further investigated on how messages from the jail reach the outside world.
“Who takes your message out of jail?” investigators asked, according to the sources. Khan replied there is no special courier. He said he is in long periods of solitary confinement, is not allowed to meet political leadership, and that when someone does meet him he simply sends the message on to the social-media team.
The sources also quoted an exchange about Aleema Khan, when jailed Khan was asked that his sister during the investigation named Ilyas as his account handler, and he said: “Aleema has nothing to do with politics”
When asked whether the social-media output was intended to stir unrest, Khan told investigators he was not spreading unrest. The prime minister said his posts criticise the government’s tribal-district operations and that “for 20 years I have warned against becoming part of other powers’ wars.”
He also claimed that party leaders repost his messages out of fear of bearing the consequences themselves.