Pakistan: Another audio clip of Imran Khan’s wife surfaces, this time on his wristwatches
In the 21-second clip, Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi can be heard telling the person on the other end, “There are a few [watches] that Khan sahib wants to be delivered to you so you could sell them. These watches are not in his use so he wants them to be sold off.”
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 9 (ANI): In a series of audio leaks in Pakistan, another alleged conversation between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief leader and party’s chief Imran Khan’s wife was heard talking about the wristwatches in the possession of the former premier.
In September, a series of audio was leaked where Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Khan were also involved.
In the 21-second clip, released on Thursday, Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi can be heard telling the person on the other end, “There are a few [watches] that Khan sahib wants to be delivered to you so you could sell them. These watches are not in his use so he wants them to be sold off,” according to Dawn.
In reply, a voice said to belong to a former aide to Prime Minister, Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari says, “Sure, murshid. I will do it.”
The source of the audio recording could not be immediately established, and its veracity has been challenged by several quarters.
This audio clip is seen as the latest development in the matter involving the sale of an expensive Graff wristwatch, gifted to Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Dawn reported.
However, Bukhari denied his involvement in the sale of the watches as well as questioned the authenticity of the audio.
“Earlier, it was being said the watches were sold to a man named Umar Zahoor through Farah [Khan]. When they were sent a legal notice, a new story surfaced that in reality the watch was sold through me. Let me make it clear I neither took any watch nor sold [any watch],” he said in a series of tweets on Thursday.
Bukhari, while demanding the forensic audit of the tape, claimed that even “college kids” could doctor audios. “I am ready to pay for it [forensic audit] out of my pocket,” he added.
The issue of the sale of the watch has been a point of contention for the former prime minister since he was ousted from power in April. Khan was disqualified by the election commission in October in the same case for making “false statements and incorrect declaration,” according to Dawn.
Notably, Khan bought a wristwatch from Toshakhana and made part of the official record of the money he had received as a result of its sale. Geo News only performed its professional responsibility of bringing before the public the buyer, Umar Farooq Zahoor.
That buyer not only showed the wristwatch and other articles he had purchased but also provided documentary evidence to prove that it was the same wristwatch that was given by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the then-prime minister Imran Khan as a gift, reported The News International.
Umar Farooq claimed the watch was sold by Farah Gogi, a friend of the wife of Imran Khan. Shahzeb Khanzada, the host of the program, time and again invited the PTI leadership to come forward and present their stance on the program.
Imran purchased the watch from Toshakhana and then sold it. After the price evaluation, he deposited 20 per cent of the price in Toshakhana. However, Shahbaz Gill claimed Imran deposited 50 per cent amount of the watch price, reported The News International.
Toshakhana gifts Rs 280 million in 2019 through Farah Khan, a close friend of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, and her whitening of the almost same amount of money the next month has put a question on Imran Khan, reported The News International.
According to Sheikh Umar Farooq Zahoor, Farah Khan sold the Toshakhana gifts to him in Dubai in April 2019 for about Rs 280 million. And the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) official record showed that only after one month, when a tax amnesty scheme was announced by the government in May 2019, she got the benefit of Rs 330.
Shahzeb Khanzada disclosed more facts in his Geo News show on Wednesday including the tax returns, filed by Farah Khan and her husband Ahsan Gujjar for the financial year 2018-19, showing that she got the benefit of the 2019 amnesty scheme.
Ahsan Gujjar claimed that his wife benefited from the amnesty scheme during Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s tenure, and not during Imran Khan’s government, reported The News. (ANI)
