An audio recording of an alleged conversation, purportedly between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a government official, was leaked on social media.
In the over two-minute-long audio clip, shared by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry on his Twitter account on Saturday, a voice — said to be that of PM Sharif — can be heard saying that Maryam Nawaz Sharif had asked him to facilitate her son-in-law Raheel with the import of machinery for a power plant, from India.
“If we do so, we will get a lot of flak when this matter goes to the ECC and cabinet,” the official can be heard saying.
At this, the voice thought to belong to the PM says: “The son-in-law is very dear to Maryam Nawaz. Tell her very logically about this and then I will talk to her.”
The same voice also agrees with the perception that this would be bad for optics and may cause a lot of trouble, politically.
It is worth noting that Maryam Nawaz’s daughter Mehrunnisa married industrialist Chaudhry Munir’s son Raheel in December 2015. The wedding was notable because it was also attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The other voice in the clip then brings up another matter related to the housing society belonging to Ms Nawaz’s son-in-law.
He says a grid station had to be installed in the Ittehad Park Housing Society, which the PM said should be dealt with in a “national way”.
The government official also suggested that former finance minister Ishaq Dar should be engaged to deal with this matter, who could handle it in a better way.
At the end of the purported audio, there is a mention of former Justice Maqbool Baqir, whose name was being considered as the next head of the National Accountability Bureau. The official is heard conveying to the premier the ‘suggestion’ of two media persons, asking him not to consider the former judge for the slot of NAB chairman, in view of their experience with former NAB chief Javed Iqbal, who was also a retired judge appointed by the PML-N government.
Meanwhile, hackers are selling leaked conversations of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for 180 bitcoin.
According to the details, purported audio clips featuring leaders of the ruling coalition surfaced on Sunday amid fears data had been “hacked” from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Hackers are offering PM Sharif’s leaked calls for 180 Bitcoin.
