Pak PM House combed, debugged after an audio leak

A high-powered committee constituted to probe the leak of informal conversations from the Prime Minister's House in Pakistan is said to have combed and debugged the entire premises, a confirmed source said.

"They have conducted thorough inspection of the building," the source told Dawn news.

The team was also monitoring mobile phone data and laptops of employees and officers of the Prime Minister's House and Office.

Following a series of audio leaks over the last week, also featuring Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz and former premer Imran Khan, a new standard operating procedure (SOP) has been implemented under which no staff and officer was allowed to take their mobile phone inside the building.

"The phones are collected at the entrance and returned after office hours," the source further told Dawn news.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a press conference on Thursday that state institutions had conducted an exercise to secure the PMO's security, and confirmed some SOP of the Prime Minister's House's security had been changed.

He also said legislation was the need of the hour in the context of modern technology, especially cyber security.

"Many sensitive matters are discussed in important places where the environment should be such that everyone is 100 per cent satisfied with making national decisions in a secure environment," he commented.

The Minister further said talks regarding a "cleansing process" were under way, and the government was mulling over the steps to take in the future.

Basic SOP was already in place for sensitive buildings and further orders have been given to make the security measures effective and prevent such breaches in the future, Tarar added.