Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar on Saturday rejected allegations levelled by the PTI blaming the provincial administration for the alleged custodial killing of a party worker, insisting the incident was purely an “accident case” which, he said, was “unfortunately misinterpreted” publicly.
A PTI worker, Ali Bilal, also known as Zille Shah, died, several others were injured and many picked up on March 8 as the caretaker Punjab government used force to block a rally called to launch the party’s campaign for the April 30 elections in the province.
On Friday, police claimed to have arrested two suspects, identified as Umar and Jehanzeb, who claimed that Bilal sustained multiple injuries after he was involved in an accident with their car. Dawn quoted sources as saying that the two claimed the accident occurred in Fortress Stadium, where Bilal was present along with five other friends, probably PTI workers.
The party leadership claims he was tortured and killed while in police custody. The claims of torture have been corroborated by Bilal’s postmortem report, issued by the Mayo Hospital. It said the victim was subjected to “massive blunt trauma”, while a fracture to his skull and subsequent bleeding has been cited as the cause of death. The report also noted damage to his liver, spleen and testes, which led to profuse bleeding.
In a press conference in Lahore today, the senior cop along with caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi denied the involvement of provincial administration in the incident.
“The evidence clearly indicate that this is an accident case. No accused in this case tried to kill and blame it on the police,” the IG said.
He said the suspects “clearly looked tense” as seen in CCTV footage.
“He also tried to save the victim at one point and then transports him to the hospital. Then the manner in which the incident was misinterpreted was quite unfortunate,” the senior cop explained.
The caretaker CM also called out the PTI for accusing police and the administration for being hand in glove in the incident.
“We are not barring you from politics but you should refrain from levelling baseless allegations on us,” he told journalists.
Naqvi said he would have answered the allegations “in a different manner” had he not been on the coveted position. “It is my responsibility to bear such attacks with restraint but threatening to file a first information report with murder charges totally on the basis of assumptions is too much.”
“I will not surrender. I will prefer going home but will not give in,” the CM told journalists.
He also categorically denied that the police were given any directions to torture workers of a particular party.
Naqvi said the IG will himself visit the victim’s father, adding the Punjab government will also extend financial assistance to the heirs which it usually does.
“They did a great injustice to me and the police administration. This should not have happened,” the provincial chief executive said.
He noted that it was a blind case and commended Punjab police for their efforts in tracing the suspects.
Commenting on an audio circulating on social media in connection to the incident, Naqvi said the clip did not even need a verification as the veracity of the audio was clearly questionable.
He also took exception to the PTI for its decision to take out a rally on a day when other public gatherings related to Aurat March and other marches taking place in the Punjab capital.
More to follow
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