A ‘threat letter’, warnings by PTI leaders and several red flags: A timeline of hit job on Imran Khan

On August 15, 2014, Imran Khan, then in Opposition, survived an assassination attempt after a gun was fired at him during a rally in Gujranwala. Khan was leading a march to Islamabad to force the resignation of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was embroiled in several corruption cases. Sharif’s supporters had attacked Khan’s convoy leading to a free for all. The cricketer-turned-politician, however, escaped unhurt. Cut to November 3, and Khan survived yet another assassination attempt, this time barely 30 kms from Gujranwala. Khan was struck by a bullet in the leg as he was leading a rally in Waziristan against the military-government combine. The PTI leader had first warned of an attempt on his life way back in March, just days before he was ousted as PM. Khan had then claimed a US hand in the conspiracy. 
 
Since then, there have been several red flags! In the last week of March, PTI leader Faisal Vawda had claimed that there was a conspiracy to assassinate Khan over his refusal to “sell the country”.

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On April 1, the then information minister and one of Khan’s closest aides Fawad Chaudhary had said that security agencies also reported a plot of the assassination. 

سیکرٹری جنرل پاکستان تحریک انصاف اسد عمر اور میاں اسلم اقبال کا عمران خان پر بزدلانہ حملے کے حوالے سے اہم ترین بیان
َ#عمران_خان_ہماری_ریڈ_لاین_ہے pic.twitter.com/AMbSJiZFO2 — PTI (@PTIofficial) November 3, 2022

 
On May 14, Khan reiterated there was a plot to kill him. Two days later, the Pakistan government beefed up security for him. On June 18, PTI leader Fayyaz Chohan claimed a terrorist was hired to eliminate Khan. “I have details that some people have ordered a terrorist named ‘Cochi’ in Afghanistan to assassinate Imran Khan,” he tweeted. 
 
Just days before Khan was scheduled to start his much-publicised ‘Long March’, Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam set sail for London on October 5, apparently on her father’s insistence. Several reports quoted PML(N) sources as saying Nawaz was concerned that the ‘Long March’ might turn ‘chaotic’ and even propel Khan back to power. 
 
On October 8, Khan alleged that four individuals were conspiring to assassinate him on charges of blasphemy. Addressing a rally at Mianwali in Punjab province, the PTI chief said PML-N leaders were trying to incite religious hatred against him. 
 
The following day, his helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing near Rawalpindi. Khan was returning to Islamabad from Dera Ismail Khan when his chopper reportedly developed a ‘technical snag’. In the run-up to the assassination attempt on November 3, current Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah made several threatening statements against Khan, for which he is under fire now.