The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release on Thursday that three retired military personnel had been placed under military custody as part of court martial proceedings against former spymaster Faiz Hameed. Hameed is accused of victimizing the owner of a private housing society. Three retired officers were being held in military detention for “actions prejudicial to military discipline,” as stated in the announcement.
The military’s media affairs section stated, “Three retired officers are also in military custody for their actions prejudicial to military discipline in connection with the FGCM proceedings of Lt Gen (Retd) Faiz Hameed.” “Investigations into specific retired officers and their associates for inciting unrest on behalf of and in coordination with entrenched political interests are still ongoing.” The identities and ranks of the three retired officers have not been made public by the ISPR, nor has it indicated when they were placed under arrest.
The army announced on Monday the extraordinary arrest of Gen. Hameed, the former chief of the top Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) organization, on charges of breaking the Army Act. An insider claims that after a top military officer called Gen. Hameed for a meeting, he was arrested from Rawalpindi. The action broke the long-standing belief that spy chiefs were untouchable in a nation where generals have long held unmatched power. It was sparked by accusations of misbehavior made by the owner of a private housing society.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued an order in November 2023, instructing Khan Moeez Khan, the owner of the Top City Housing Society in Islamabad, to take legal action against Gen. The directive told Khan Moeez Khan, the owner of the Top City Housing Society in Islamabad, to take action against Gen. Hameed by going through the appropriate channels, which included the Ministry of Defence.
Wider arrests will follow: Later on, when speaking about the developments, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that an institution had prioritized self-accountability and had started a probe in that direction. “We believe that this self-accountability is a good thing and that it is a step that should be applauded, moving towards accountability and stopping discord in the nation.”
Every institution should be responsible for its actions, according to Tarar, who also thought it was excellent that the military had started the process. “The ISPR statement today demonstrated that the three officers were detained as a consequence of the inquiry from General Hameed,” the speaker stated.
“On the direction of one political party and its leader, the words used [in the statement] are ‘behest’ and ‘collusion’ with Gen Hameed due to which discord and instability were being spread in the country, it was being destabilized and there were attempts to impose an uncertain situation in the country and there were security attacks,” the minister continued, highlighting this as the most significant aspect of today’s ISPR statement.
The action by the military to detain Gen. Hameed and the other three officers was, in my opinion, quite wise and appropriate given the collaboration and conspiracies being hatched on the command and will of the PTI founder. Tarar claimed that at the time of the no-confidence motion against him, Gen. Hameed and his friends “were fully busy in political wrangling” and had communication with former Prime Minister Imran Khan as well. According to the minister, nobody could be allowed to jeopardize national security or cause unrest and instability in the nation.
“It appears that more arrests will be made, and its scope will not only include members of the military; anyone involved and anyone who has jeopardized the security of the nation will fall under its purview.” Tarar asserted that Imran was trying to disassociate himself from the arrest and was also sending communications from behind bars. “However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that when Gen. Hameed carried out all of these actions, the PTI founder’s wishes were evident, and that there was a communication channel and connection that allowed these matters to be handled with the PTI founder at the helm.”
The minister stated that additional information and identities were emerging during the investigation of the arrested officers. He claimed that “glaring and irrefutable evidence” supported the decision to make the arrests.
Similar to this, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon expressed his satisfaction with the arrests, saying that they “welcomed the way important decisions are being taken for Pakistan’s security and the noose is tightening against all those people who whether they were involved in May 9 or conspiracies against institutions or those who crossed every limit to malign institutions and did not care for the country’s security just for the greed of power and their positions in collusion with a political party and the PTI founder.”
Memon stated that the new arrests demonstrated the involvement of “PTI leadership and some enablers” in operations against institutions, dissension propagation efforts, and cyberterrorism.
