PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that 100 hours-long conversations of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have been put up for sale on the dark web for $3.5 million and criticised security agencies for overlooking the "sensitive" matter of audio leaks, media reports said.
Expressing shock over purported leaked audio clips of government officials, he said: "Even the office of the prime minister of the nuclear-armed country is not safe," Express Tribune reported.
Commenting on one of the leaked audio clips featuring a conversation between the Premier and a government official, Fawad said the conversation showed that decisions were being made in London.
"(In the audio clip) Maryam Nawaz is demanding Shehbaz Sharif to clear the way for her son-in-law's machinery import from India," he remarked.
Separately in a tweet, Chaudhry criticised the country's security agencies, saying: "They would have cared about this sensitive matter if they had got time from political matters."
He also expressed surprise over the silence of the government officials on the matter, Express Tribune reported.
Another PTI leader Mirza Shahzad Akbar said the audio leak scandal was not a hacking but definitely an inside job, aimed at influencing the government's decision-making ahead of crucial appointments.
"First it's not a hack into the system (and) hacker (and) dark web seems cover story, our systems are based on analogue and not digital, in fact, that's one way of Pak cyber security," he said while sharing his sources-based information on the matter.
Akbar, who served as PM's aide on accountability during PTI's tenure in power, added that timing of the leak was important "as it's just before crucial appointment, target seems clearly to influence the decision, which way though only time will tell!".
Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said the audio leak has proved that neither an illegal act was committed nor any undue advantage was given to anyone.
In a statement, she claimed that the power plant was imported from India under a policy and law formulated during Imran Khan's tenure, Samaa TV reported.
"There is a high court order on installation of grid station on 18 July 2022," she said while clarifying the two issues discussed in the audio leak of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Samaa TV reported.
An alleged telephonic conversation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with a Prime Minister House's official is making rounds on social media in which the latter could be heard talking with the Prime Minister regarding Maryam Nawaz's alleged influence in government affairs.
In the audio tape, the government official is talking with PM Shehbaz Sharif about importing a power plant from India on behalf of the son-in-law of Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
During the conversation, the PM House official could be heard advising the premier to not import a plant from India as the step will harm the reputation of government.
"The problem is that that matter will first go to AC and then to the cabinet and importing machinery from India on the instructions of the Prime Minister won't be easy as it can become an issue," the official could be heard replying to PM, Samaa TV reported.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that Maryam Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif's audio leaks prove that the Sharif family can illegally import machinery from India for their personal benefit, Samaa TV reported.
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About the alleged audio leak, he said that Maryam wanted to illegally import machinery from India for her son-in-law's factory.
He added that Pakistan cut off all trade ties with India after it abolished Kashmiris' right to self-determination and violated the UN charter. But, this government is trying to restore ties with India, they are ready to neglect the struggle of Kashmiris for their personal benefit, he added, Samaa TV reported.
Imran Khan said that the audio leak proves that the Sharif family's only purpose is to hoard money and nothing else, adding that 60 per cent of the federal cabinet was facing corruption charges and that it had derailed the accountability process by amending the NAB laws.
