ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad on Wednesday sent PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on a 14-day judicial remand in the cipher case.

The former foreign minister was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier this month in connection with a first information report (FIR) registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 against ex-premier Imran Khan and Qureshi.

The FIR alleged that Imran, Qureshi and their other associates were involved in the communication of information contained in a secret classified document (cipher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022, to the Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to unauthorised persons by “twisting facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security”.

The case was registered after an American news outlet The Intercept recently published what was claimed to be the contents of the diplomatic cable that had reportedly gone missing from Imran’s possession.

Imran had persistently claimed he was ousted from office last year under a “US conspiracy”. The PTI alleges that cipher contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from power. Imran had since walked back on that narrative.

The FIA was initially investigating Imran for revealing the contents of a confidential diplomatic cable and keeping it in his possession. However, after former principal secretary Azam Khan disclosed that the cipher went missing from Imran’s custody, the investigation agency also started looking into this aspect.