Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan to lead PTI's election rally tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday announced that he will be leading Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) election rally in Lahore on Sunday at 2 pm (local time) as he criticized the authorities for "killing" his party worker, Geo News reported.

"I will lead the election rally to show them that we are not domesticated animals," Imran Khan told his PTI workers during his address via video link.

It will be the first rally that Imran Khan will lead in over four months as he was mobilising the party from his Zaman Park residence, as per the news report. Former Pakistan PM had been at home as he was recovering from an injury he sustained last year.

Khan was shot in the legs on November 3 as he waved to crowds from a truck-mounted container while leading a protest march to Islamabad to pressurise the government into announcing an early election. The PTI planned on holding its rally on Wednesday.

However, the interim Punjab government imposed Section 144 (banning public gatherings) in light of "security threats", resulting in a clash between police and the party's workers, as per the Geo News report. PTI leaders have claimed that the Punjab Police was involved in the death of party worker Ali Bilal.

However, Punjab Chief Minister and Inspector General have refuted the party's claims. Earlier, Imran Khan on Saturday criticised Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar after they said that the death of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker Ali Bilal was an "accident case," The Express Tribune reported.

PTI chairman Imran Khan took to his official Twitter handle and lashed out at Naqvi and Anwar. He said that these two would have been jailed for lying and insulting the intelligence of Pakistan.

He tweeted, "In any civilised country, these two shameless people would have been jailed not just for lying so blatantly but for insulting the intelligence of our nation.

This is what happens when the country is taken over by dangerous duffers who believe everyone is as dumb as them." Imran Khan's statement comes after Punjab Inspector General Usman Anwar refuted allegations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that the provincial administration was responsible for the murder of its party worker Ali Bilal, The Express Tribune reported. Anwar said that Ali Bilal's death was an "accident case" and "unfortunately misinterpreted."

The post-mortem examination of the body revealed that Bilal died due to massive blunt trauma to his body, including a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhaging, as per the news report. The post-mortem examination further added that the PTI worker received 26 injuries to his body, including serious injury to the head.

Speaking at a press conference with Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Usman Anwar said that the evidence "clearly" showed the case was an "accident" and that no person attempted to murder the victim, as per the news report. He further said that the prime suspect looked "tense" in the CCTV footage.

The police official said that the accused tried to "save the victim at one point and take him to the hospital" and added that the interpretation of the incident was rather "misfortunate," The Express Tribune reported. Mohsin Naqvi said that his administration was not involved in the incident. He said that the PTI should refrain from levelling "baseless allegations."

He called out the PTI leadership for blaming Punjab's caretaker government for Bilal's death, as per The Express Tribune report. Mohsin Naqvi refuted allegations of instructing the Punjab Police to act against PTI workers.