Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has categorically denied the involvement of his administration in the horrific incident of PTI’s worker Ali Bilal aka Zille Shah. He on Saturday called out the PTI leadership for blaming for the murder of a party worker, saying he will not bow down to the pressure through curses and tweets.

“We are not barring you from politics but you should refrain from levelling baseless allegations on us,” he told a press briefing in Lahore.Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar also  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.

Flanked by Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar, 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.

Rubbishing the PTI claims that Ali Bilal was killed in police custody, Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that PTI worker Ali Bilal aka Zille Shah died in a road accident. “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.

The Punjab chief minister said he had not issued any order for torture on people. While talking about the death of the PTI worker, he said Ali Bilal did not died of torture but it was hit by a vehicle. Saying the death of a human being was not a petty issue, he vowed action against those involved in the incident. Mr Naqvi said Raja Shakeel had informed Yasmin Rashid that a man was hit by his vehicle. Later, both went to Zaman park where Ms Rashid asked him there was no need to worry, the chief minister said.

He said attempts were being made to create unrest in the province ahead of elections scheduled for April 30. He said the PTI could hold its rally on some other day as the Lahore High Court had allowed Aurat March organisers to hold the demonstration.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. He noted that it was a blind case and commended Punjab police for their efforts in tracing the suspects.

The IG Punjab said the PTI worker died in a road accident after he was hit a vehicle, which is owned by a PTI leader Raja Shakeel. “We have found blood stains on the vehicle,” he said. He said police had received an appeal from Ali Bilal’s father for investigation into his death. He said stern action would be taken if evidence of police torture were found. He also lashed out at the social media campaign against police officials.

The Punjab Police chief said the body of Mr Bilal was dropped at the Services Hospital at 6:52 pm, adding that the vehicle was owned by Raja Shakeel and it was recovered from Lahore’s Waris Road with the help of CCTV footage of 31 cameras.

“We will present all evidence in the case to the father of deceased PTI worker,” he said in the press conference when he also played confessional statements of the persons spotted driving the suspected vehicle. He said all the suspects had been arrested and they would be produced before the court.

It was worth mentioned here that a PTI worker named Ali Bilal died while several others were seriously 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 to the provincial assembly.

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.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP