“The FIR registered against Captain (r) Muhammad Safdar Awan was based on a lie,” Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he said that the Sindh government has formed a ministerial committee for an inquiry into the arrest of Safdar on Sunday.

The names of the ministers on the committee will be revealed later.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s husband was arrested in Karachi under charges of sloganeering at the Quaid’s mausoleum and criminal intimidation, and public mischief. The case was registered at the Brigade police station.

Shah called the FIR fake. “We agree that sloganeering at the mausoleum was wrong but that case cannot be registered with the police. And this is what was first told to complainants who came to the police station initially.”

He explained that a complaint against any disrespectful action at the tomb can only be taken to the magistrate court and the police have nothing to do with it. “When they [PTI MPAs] saw that they couldn’t get an FIR lodged, they created a fake FIR using their own people,” the chief minister said.

Shah clarified that the Karachi police were not at fault in the matter and did everything lawfully.

He revealed that the complainant, identified as Waqas Ahmed, was an offender himself and was being backed by PTI MPAs who he refused to name. “We have pictures of these people visiting the police station.”

Coming back to sloganeering at Quaid’s tomb, he accepted that although what happened was wrong, it has happened multiple times before by the prime minister and his supporters as well. No action was taken then, he claimed.

“We will get a proper investigation conducted and everyone will be allowed to come and express their point of view. The PPP government always stands with the truth and will make sure justice is served,” he added.