Rubbishing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) claims about Ali Bilal’s custodial death, interim Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi Saturday said that the PTI worker died in a car accident.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore along with Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar, Mohsin Naqvi said he will not bow before the pressure and dirty propaganda.
The PTI had claimed that Punjab Police killed its worker Ali Bilal — nicknamed Zille Shah — during Wednesday’s standoff at Zaman Park.
On Wednesday, Punjab Home Department had imposed Section 144 in Lahore citing serious security threats for seven days. The clashes occurred as police attempted to disrupt the gathering of the PTI workers at PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s residence.
Horrific images of the body of the PTI worker in Lahore began circulating on social media. Later, more details of Bilal’s death began to surface, including CCTV footage of a private 4X4 vehicle, which can be seen dropping Bilal at a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Timeline of incident
The Punjab government has also issued a timeline of the incident, sharing details about the escape of PTI workers from the police van and the arrival of the private vehicle at the Services Hospital.
Sharing details about the incident collected during the probe, CM Naqvi said that Raja Shakeel informed PTI leader Yasmin Rashid that the man was hit by the car.
At this, Yasmin Rashid asked Shakeel — a member of PTI’s central Punjab wing — to come with her to Zaman Park and he went with the former health minister leaving the driver in the car, he added.
He said that Yasmin then went to Zaman Park and told Shakeel not to worry.
He added that the elections are set to take place on April 30 in the province and efforts are being made to disrupt the law and order situation. “They should have staged their rally a couple of days after,” he added.
“I am accused of murder, is it that easy to level murder accusations on someone?” he said, adding that the PTI is openly requesting to file an FIR for the murder.
“Don’t make false accusations and mislead everyone,” he added.
Addressing the presser, Punjab IG said that all these people — who brought Ali to the hospital in a 4×4 vehicle — have been arrested and will be presented before a court.
He informed that the owner of the vehicle, in which the deceased worker was brought to the hospital, is Raja Shakeel.
He added that Shakeel informed PTI Punjab leader Yasmeen Rashid that a person has been hit by a vehicle.
Shakeel, according to the IG Usman Anwar, left for Zaman Park with Rashid leaving behind the car’s driver Jahanzaib, one of the two people arrested by the police.
The video circulating on social media is fake, he claimed.
Police have found evidence against claims made by PTI with the hard work of its technical team. “The conspiracy has failed,” the police chief said.
“Action will be taken if abuse by police is proven,” the IG said.
The IG said that the deceased PTI worker’s father Liaquat Ali also appealed for an investigation into his son’s death.
“Action will be taken if evidence of police torture is found,” the IG assured.
Sharing details of the vehicle involved in the incident, the provincial police chief said: “A video of a black vehicle arriving at the Services Hospital was reported. The vehicle has been recovered with the help of 31 CCTV cameras and GPS from the Waris Shah road.”
The head of the provincial police department said that the worker’s body was brought to the Services Hospital at 6:52am.
He added that there was no conspiracy to kill the PTI worker. “The Punjab Police will share the investigation with [Ali’s] father. We promise to present all the evidence to Zille Shah’s father.”
He also asserted that all the proof will be presented before the court.
Police committee formed to probe death
Moreover, a request was also submitted at Lahore’s Race Course Police station for registering a first information report (FIR) against interim CM Naqvi and Minister for Interior Rana Sananullah for Bilal’s death.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Bilal Siddique Kamiyana and Sub-inspector Rehan were mentioned in the application submitted by Bilal’s father Liaquat Ali.
The police formed also a committee to probe Bilal’s death on Thursday comprising Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Elite Force Sadiq Ali and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Imran Kashore.
