On January 11, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was identified in a forensic report submitted to an anti-terrorism court as one of the individuals appearing in video footage linked to the May 2023 attack on the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar. The footage was analysed by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency in accordance with a court directive issued as part of the ongoing trial.
The report, prepared by the PFSA, was based on video clips provided by authorities showing the ransacking of the Radio Pakistan office during protests that broke out after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9, 2023. The forensic agency confirmed that the videos were genuine and that five individuals, including CM Sohail Afridi and former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash, were identified in the footage. However, the report did not clarify whether the clips were directly linked to the Radio Pakistan incident or other events.
The court had earlier instructed that the videos be analysed to determine their authenticity and whether the individuals whose images were provided appeared in them. The PFSA report confirmed the presence of the five individuals but noted that the videos were a compilation of multiple camera angles and had not been edited otherwise. At the time of submission, none of the individuals had been nominated in the case.
In response to the report, PTI leaders claimed the footage was unrelated to the Radio Pakistan incident. Taimur Jhagra stated that the videos being circulated included clips unrelated to the Peshawar attack and were taken in Islamabad on May 9. He added that the forensic report only verified the authenticity of the videos and did not link them to the attack site.
The anti-terrorism court has scheduled the next hearing for January 26. The FIR was registered at East Cantonment police station on May 10, 2023, and on June 3, 2025, 75 individuals were indicted in the case, including present and former lawmakers. Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari stated that the forensic findings provided “irrefutable evidence” of a planned conspiracy involving arson and rioting in Peshawar.
