Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday claimed that the issue of audio leaks of conversations allegedly recorded at Prime Minister’s House that had raised significant concerns over Pakistan’s national security has been resolved and the culprits identified.
In an interview with Geo News anchor Shahzeb Khanzada, he said no proof had been found of any foreign involvement, adding that “some staff members” of the Prime Minister’s House had been found to be responsible. “[They] did it for money,” he alleged, while not offering any insight into whether these alleged culprits had been arrested. A private TV channel had earlier claimed two staff members of the Prime Minister’s House had been taken into custody, but this could not be independently verified.
Explaining how the recordings were obtained, he said the Prime Minister’s House had been “bugged” and several telephonic and informal conversations recorded. He said the results of the probe into the audio leaks would be shared with courts through an in-camera briefing if the case were taken up, though he noted that investigations were still ongoing.
To a question, Sanaullah said he did not see any issue with making the report’s findings public, but stressed that this decision was in the hands of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the federal cabinet, and the National Security Committee.
Following the spree of audio leaks—initially of conversations between Sharif and his aides and subsequently of ousted prime minister Imran Khan and senior PTI leaders—the federal government formed an investigation team comprising members of all intelligence agencies to probe the matter and fix responsibility. A key question under consideration was whether the release of the audio recordings was the result of a hack—suggesting serious concerns with the government’s cybersecurity—or was obtained through other means.
On Monday, in a posting on Twitter, PTI Chairman Khan said he would approach courts for a probe into the breach of national security, adding he would also seek the formation of a Joint Investigation Team to fix responsibility for the bugging of the P.M. House.