Imran calls for nationwide rallies in protest, claims Gill was tortured

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday announced to hold nationwide rallies to show solidarity with his chief of staff, Dr Shahbaz Gill, who he said was "mentally and physically tortured" on the night of his arrest, Aaj News reported.

“I will lead a rally in Islamabad tomorrow ... and rallies will be held in all divisional headquarters across the country,” the PTI chairman told journalists in Islamabad.

Khan's brief interaction with the media came after he was stopped from meeting Gill at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in the federal capital.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, the PTI chief said that his party will leave no stone unturned to identify people responsible for the "gruesome torture" on Dr Shahbaz Gill and bring them to justice.

"All the pictures and videos show clearly that Gill was tortured both mentally and physically including sexual abuse - most too gruesome to relate. He was humiliated to break him down I now have full detailed information".

“ICT police says it did not inflict any torture. So my question is: Who tortured Gill? There is a general perception in the public at large and in our minds too as to who could have carried out the gruesome torture. We will leave no stone unturned to find out those responsible & bring them to justice,” Imran said, warning of a strong public reaction.

Meanwhile, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said in a video message released from the official Twitter handle of the PTI that mental and physical torture was inflicted upon Gill to break him down.

“Physical torture on any political worker is unacceptable. Today, all political parties are condemning the ‘brutal torture’ on Shahbaz Gill,” he said.

“The party has decided to bring out a protest rally against the torture on Gill on Saturday,” Fawad said, adding that Imran Khan will lead the rally from China Chowk.

Islamabad court directs authorities to shift Shahbaz Gill to PIMS, orders medical checkup

Earlier in the day, an Islamabad court suspended the physical remand of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill until Monday after reserving a verdict on a police plea for his eight-day physical remand in a case under sedition charges.

The court while rejecting the plea for extension in physical remand, directed the Islamabad police to transfer him to PIMS Hospital and conduct a complete medical check-up of the suspect.

During the hearing, the police asked the court to extend Gill's physical remand for another eight days. The court questioned why they were asking for more days when the court had previously granted the police two-day physical remand of the politician.

On Thursday, the IHC ordered the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police to submit an inquiry report in the physical remand case and adjourned the hearing till August 22.

Shahbaz Gill's physical remand: IHC seeks inquiry report from police

On Wednesday, an Islamabad court sent Gill on a two-day physical remand in a sedition case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry while announcing the reserved judgment said Gill is given in the custody of the investigation officer (IO) for the purpose of investigation for 48 hours.

The court also directed the IO to get the accused medically examined immediately after taking his custody and submit a report of medical examination before the court.

The court also issued orders to the superintendent of jail to hand over Gill’s custody to the Islamabad police.

On August 9, Gill was arrested by Islamabad Police outside Bani Gala Chowk on charges of “making statements against state institutions and inciting the people to rebellion.”