Former foreign minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was arrested in Islamabad on Saturday after an FIR was registered against him and PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan under Official Secrets Act for disclosing the contents of the diplomatic cable, Cypher, for political gains.

The FIR said the deposed prime minister and the former foreign minister revealed the content of the classified document to unauthorised persons and twisted facts for ulterior motives and personal political gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security.

According to the FIR, PTI leaders held a clandestine meeting at Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence on March 28, 2022, to conspire to misuse the contents of diplomatic cable in order to accomplish their nefarious designs.

The FIR further added that Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi directed to distort its contents.

The FIR also said Khan harmed national security by using the Cypher telegram, adding that he illegally kept a copy of the diplomatic cable with “mala fide intention” that was sent to the PM’s Office by then Pakistan envoy to the US.

The former premier “maliciously” kept the copy and did not send it back to the Foreign Office, the FIR reads. It also said Khan still has a copy of the Cypher.

“The unauthorised retention and misuse of Cypher telegram by the accused person compromised the entire diplomatic cables’ security system of the state and secret communication method of Pakistani missions abroad,” read the FIR.

“These actions by the accused persons directly/indirectly benefited the interest of foreign powers and caused loss to the State of Pakistan.”

The FIR further added that the role of the former principal secretary Azam Khan will be ascertained during the course of investigation.

Almost 16 months after former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan was pushed out of Parliament through a no-confidence motion while crying hoarse about a ‘conspiracy’ from the US, a credible American investigation journal – ‘The Intercept’ — has published the text of the ‘Cypher’ the Pakistani ambassador sent to the foreign office on March 7, 2022.

‘The Intercept’ stated that the confidential cable was provided with the secret document by a source “who had access to the document as a member of the military”. The source added that they had no ties to Imran Khan or his party.

The controversy surrounding the recent leak has taken a new turn as Ryan Grim, the journalist, who authored the bombshell story in ‘The Intercept’, has revealed in a series of tweets that the alleged source within the Pakistani military provided him with the sensitive document.