LAHORE – An audio tape allegedly featuring Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s discussion about the death of the PTI worker has surfaced.
In the leaked audio, the chief organiser of the PML-N is purportedly be heard asking a person on the other side of the phone to portray the death of Ali Bilal aka Zillay Shah as a road accident. She allegedly asked for giving the angle of accident to cover up the allegations of custodial torture.
Speculations surrounded the death of Zillay Shah, who lost his life earlier this week when PTI workers and police clashed in the Punjab capital, when PTI leaders claimed that he was tortured to death in the police custody. However, interim Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and IGP Usman Anwar rejected the allegations, and termed his death an accident.
Following the press conference, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry shared the audio clip of the PML-N chief organiser, saying it is two-day old clip when planning was being made to cover up the murder of Zillay Shah.
آج پنجاب کے جنرل ڈائیر کی پریس کانفرنس سے دو دن پہلے مریم نواز بتا چکیں تھیں کہ کور اپ کیا بنانا ہے، یہ گفتگو سنیں اور آج کی پریس کانفرنس سنیں۔۔ pic.twitter.com/3Kx2YvNn5J
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 11, 2023
In a statement, the former information minister raised questions over the presence of interim health minister in the hospital when the body of the PTI worker was being examined for the postmortem report.
He said there were 26 torture marks on the body of the deceased, adding: “Why had the IG Punjab confiscated the CCTV footage”. He said if his death was accidental why the PTI chairman, Hammad Azhar and other party leaders were booked in his murder case. Fawad Chaudhry also demanded judicial probe into the death of the PTI worker.
Meanwhile, Zillay Shah’s father said he was not being pressurised to blame someone for his son’s death. He expressed his view when IG Usman Anwar visited him to condole the death of his son. He said, “I don’t want to nominate anyone in the case”. Referring to his previous complaint wherein he had nominated police officers and Punjab chief minister, he said: “I was in mental stress when the complaint was written”. He demanded transparent investigation into the death of his son.
