Overview
- Senior Sindh minister Sharjeel Memon said a cabinet committee was formed and multiple officials were suspended over the Gul Plaza inferno, citing delayed water supply to fire tenders and estimating 2,000–2,500 people were inside the building.
- Memon said the province is writing to the Sindh High Court chief justice to request a serving judge oversee an independent inquiry to ensure transparent findings.
- An Islamabad District and Sessions Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi over alleged misleading accusations against state institutions, ordering his production for non-appearance and adjourning the case to Feb. 10; Afridi has rejected the allegations as politically driven.
- Minister of State Huzaifa Rahman said the government held back-channel contacts urging PTI to drop its planned ‘pahiya jam’ on Feb. 8 and warned the public would not back the shutdown, adding PTI’s popularity would be clear after that date.
- An alleged leaked audio attributed to PTI information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram blamed Afridi for MPs not reaching a recent dharna, intensifying party recriminations, while a separate high-speed trailer crash near Kot Addu killed five schoolchildren on their way to class.