On Tuesday, Hashim Muhammad Dogar, the home minister for Punjab, refuted claims that PTI politician Shahbaz Gill was being tortured in custody.
Dogar told the media that Gill was “totally there is no problem” after seeing the PTI leader at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where he was detained last week for making controversial statements during a programme.
His comments came a day after Imran Khan, a former prime minister, said that Gill had been stripped nude, assaulted, and subjected to mental torture while being held in custody.”They are tormenting him and attempting to destroy his mind. And they are pressuring him to make remarks against Imran Khan, the former premier claimed, adding that if Imran needed to say anything, he would do it on his own without the need for Shahbaz Gill.
On Friday, Imran made a similar allegation and questioned whose direction the purported torture was being carried out under.I’ve been pretty explicit. The query doesn’t even come up. Nobody dares to even touch a prisoner there, much less Shahbaz Gill. If someone does, I will take immediate action, he added, adding that he will meet with PTI Chairman Imran Khan to inform him of the “real situation.”
The provincial minister stated that any allegations of torture should be “ruled out,” adding that after Gill’s release, the media may interrogate him to see whether Dogar’s claims were accurate.
