ISLAMABAD: Condemning the alleged torture of party leader Dr Shahbaz Gill while in police custody, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday suggested that a three-member multi-party panel be formed to expose the individuals responsible and bring them to book.

Meanwhile, the government claims the PTPs allegations of torture on Gill were mere `propaganda` to divert attention from real issues.

Speaking to the media here on Saturday, Mr Chaudhry stressed that the violence and torture allegedly inflicted on Gill was unacceptable and intolerable. The gravity of the situation, he said, could be gauged from the fact that all politi-cal parties were raising their voice against it. He suggested a threemember `independent` panel consisting of PPP`s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, PML-N federal minister Khwaja Saad Rafique and formerPTI minister Dr Shireen Mazari, be formed to probe into the torture on Gill.

He further said the panel should be tasked with identifying the individuals involved in the heinous crime and bring them to book, adding that no one could question the integrity of a panel with members from all major political parties.

Commenting on cases against PML-N leaders in Punjab, Mr Chaudhry said the provincial government dealt with the issue in a very civilised manner, but the PML-N leaders fled to Islamabad instead of facing the court like the PTI did.

He further remarked that the PML-N`s Azma Bukhari had made a sensational statement that their sole purpose was to extract a statement from Gill against PTI chairman Imran Khan. He added it was difficult to trust the Islamabad Police in the current circumstances.Meanwhile, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb slammed PTI chief Imran Khan for generating `false propaganda` over the alleged torture on Mr Gill.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said the PTI`s claims of torture under police custody were nothing but `propaganda` to deviate from real issues, which she said were a `defamatory social media campaign over the Lasbela martyrs after the foreign funding verdict followed by Gill`s comments against a state institution` Responding to a question, she also challengedMr Khan to name the agencies that provided him with reports about PML-N and PPP, to support his claims in this regard. She said Mr Gill had violated `red lines given in the Constitution on the basis of which a case was registered against him under the law` and he was taken into custody for investigation.

`We want to make it clear that nobody should be tortured, and in this case there is no use of violence over Shahbaz Gill. It is only propaganda that has been launched by the PTI,` the minister said. `When Shahbaz Gill faces a camera he starts acting.

Chakwal incident She also addressed a video being circulated on social media to claim it showed torture marks on Gill, saying the clip was of another incident in Chakwal where a child predator was tortured by locals.

Disseminating such editedvideoswasaviolation of cybercrime laws, Ms Aurangzeb said, adding that the torture claims were being probed and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah would soon hold a press conference to present all the evidence and facts to the public.On Imran Khan`s claims Mr Gill was subjected to sexual abuse as well, the minister said if that was the case, it would have come up in his medical reports, adding a preliminary torture report was being prepared by the Islamabad Police.

She then played a video, supposedly from Saturday noon and purportedly showing Mr Gill at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences along with Islamabad Police personnel, going through some documents while appearing healthy and standing on his feet. `Is this the same person Imran Khan claims to have been subjected to severe torture?` Ms Aurangzeb asl(ed. `This video reflects Mr Gill`s real health condition.

Fawad on `hospital` video A short while later, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, reacting to the video shown by the minister, said if it was genuine, it`s good news.

He, however, questioned that if Mr Gill was indeed this healthy then why the party chief, lawyers and media weren`t being allowed to meet him.

`Police should allow Imran Khan, lawyers and the media to meet him,` he said in a tweet.