Audio recordings of informal conversations between top government officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and some members of the federal cabinet, were released over the weekend.
In one of the recordings, Shehbaz, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Ayaz Sadiq can be heard discussing the resignations of PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly.
Talking about the leaks, the journalist said in a YouTube video that the Intelligence Bureau looks after the security of the PMO, but such audio leaks indicate towards serious security issues of the highest office of the country.
He said that somebody has put up a massive data of recorded conversations of Shehbaz and former prime minister Imran Khan for sale on the dark web for $350 thousand.
"I don't know who has recorded these conversations.... It can be possible that a foreign country is involved in spying top Pakistani officials and hackers have stolen the data from that country to put it on dark web for auction," he said.
He also cited the case of former PM Yousaf Raza Gillani delaying a cabinet meeting by two hours when it was found out that sound recording devices were working in the room. The then interior minister Senator Rehman Malik (late) had claimed at the time in a meeting with journalists that these devices were connected to some Western country's mission in the Red Zone.
Recalling a past incident of bugging of the PMO, he said that when PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister and the proceedings in a court on the Panama Papers case were underway, a spy drone would hover over the residential area of the prime minister and later at the IB Headquarters. "The agency, however, probed the matter and conveyed to the concerned that the drone would be shot down if sent again," he added.
Journalist Azaz Syed criticised the national intelligence agencies for overlooking the matter of audio leaks. He said that the security agencies seem incapable of maintaining the security of the top offices of the country.
He, however, expressed the hope that the Intelligence Bureau would properly investigate the matter and nab the culprits.