PTI worker's death termed road accident, Punjab IG refutes torture allegations.

LAHORE -- 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 a road 'accident case' which, he said, was 'unfortunately misinterpreted' publicly.

A PTI worker, Ali Bilal, also known as Zillay 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. media 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. None of the accused in this case...

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