ALI Bilal was a fixture at PTI’s Lahore rallies and especially at Zaman Park, where he and other PTI workers routinely gathered at the party’s call whenever it seemed that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was in danger of being arrested.

Bilal was among the crowds in Lahore when the PTI took out its ‘respect for the judiciary’ march and the caretaker provincial government, in its wisdom, decided to impose Section 144 due to the “threat of terrorism”, effectively making any kind of gathering illegal.

Interestingly, while Section 144 was meant to be imposed for seven days, it was removed a day after the abortive rally — which was met with baton charges and tear gassing by the police, along with the use of water cannons — leading one to the inescapable conclusion that the ban had little to do with terrorism and everything to do with preventing the PTI from taking out its rally.

Ali Bilal participated in this rally, as was his wont, but by evening, reports began to come in that Ali Bilal’s dead body had been found and then Imran Khan posted pictures of Bilal’s body in which blood can be seen on his face and temple.

Along with this, a video was uploaded claiming to show Ali Bilal in a police van along with other arrested workers, and in this he is seen to be healthy and unharmed.

As soon as this video was uploaded, questions were asked as to whether this video was recent or from the ‘jail bharo tehreek’, but then journalist Zohaib Kazmi reported that he himself had recorded a video of Bilal in police custody around 4:30pm on the day he died. I have seen the metadata from his phone and can confirm with a high degree of confidence that it is authentic. But it’s also now irrelevant, as the police have admitted that they had him in custody, along with other PTI workers.

Ali Bilal’s injuries do not seem consistent with a car accident.

As per the ‘confessional’ statements aired by police on Saturday, a PTI worker claimed that he, along with Ali Bilal, were in the same van and fled when police allowed them to get off the van to answer the call of nature.

Perhaps this is so, but one must ask whether it is likely that the police, who moments before were baton-charging, tear-gassing and beating up PTI supporters, would be so inclined as to, just an hour later, allow them to take an en masse bathroom break?

Another officially issued video alleges to show (from a distance) Bilal and others leaving police custody, which if authenticated, would contradict the version that they ‘escaped’.

Bilal, as per stills from a CCTV video, was dropped off at the hospital, dead on arrival, by a black four-by-four, and in another released video, the driver of a PTI office holder confesses to having hit him with his vehicle. Police have also released a detailed timeline of the car’s movements, but had not (up until my writing this) yet released the footage of the actual impact. Given the kind of camera coverage that exists in that area, this is curious indeed.

Ali Bilal’s injuries, as detailed in the Punjab health department’s initial post-mortem report, do not seem consistent with a car accident. Having personally spoken with several medical experts and forensic doctors, I can report they all say that accidents cause (1) primary impact, where the car hits the person and (2) secondary impact, where the person hits the ground after first impact.

Tertiary impact is if and when the said person is run over again by a vehicle. Here, we see nothing of the sort and instead see a ruptured spleen and liver, along with blunt force trauma to head, and testicular injury. These are not typically the hallmarks of an accident, where the first impact is usually with the car’s bumper and where impact with the road will certainly cause friction burns.

More, the sort of multiple trauma suffered would only be remotely possible if the car was travelling at a high speed (on a seemingly busy road), and even then the trauma would be far more pronounced, leading to bone breakages at least in the legs, pelvis and lower and middle parts of the body, where the initial impact takes place.

Given the injuries to his face, are we to assume that he was hit from behind and the injuries are from his face impacting the ground at near impossible angles while causing no friction scrape to the face? And if so, how does that explain a ruptured liver and spleen?

What happened in the missing hours after Bilal left police custody? Current evidence suggests he was beaten, but if it is proven through video and multiple testimony that he was fine when leaving police custody, then when and by whom was the beating administered? We have questions but, up till now, no real answers.

The writer is a journalist.

Twitter: @zarrarkhuhro

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023