Decomposed body found at outhouse of former minister

Authorities suspect private torture cell on property

LAHORE:

Police claimed to have recovered a decomposed body from the outhouse (dera) of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former provincial minister Mian Aslam Iqbal in the Samanabad area on Monday.

According to authorities, the body - believed to be of a man aged 30 to 35—was discovered in the servant quarters of the property in New Mozang.

The deceased had sustained gunshot wounds, leading police to suspect murder. The body was shifted to the morgue for a post-mortem, while forensic teams gathered evidence from the scene.

Investigations revealed that the servant quarters had been rented out a few months ago by Arshad, a constable associated with the Organised Crime Unit (OCU)—formerly known as the Central Investigation Agency (CIA).

Authorities suspect that Arshad had set up a private torture cell at the location and has since gone missing. A search operation is underway to locate him.

A murder case has been registered under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and police are working to determine the victim's identity and apprehend those involved.

Mian Aslam Iqbal, a senior PTI leader, served as Punjab's Minister for Industries, Commerce, and Investment from 2018 to 2022.

He also briefly held the Information and Culture portfolio in 2019 and was Punjab's Senior Minister in Parvez Elahi's PTI-backed government from 2022 to early 2023.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police Rajanpur claimed to have arrested a notorious bandit of the Kacha area in an injured condition after an encounter and recovering a Kalashnikov.

The Punjab police spokesperson shared that that bandit Shahid, son of Shah Mir Lund, is wanted in six heinous crimes such as murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping for ransom, and attacks on police.

The police received a tip-off that the criminals of the Saddri Lund gang were present near Machhi Mor with the intention of committing a crime. Upon receiving this information, the police acted promptly and conducted a raid. As soon as the police party was seen near Pattan Tago Musani, the Kacha criminals started firing heavily.