QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has ordered an inquiry into the death of a man, said to be a leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), under mysterious circumstances.

According to reports, people staged a sit-in in Loralai on Saturday to protest against the last week’s terrorist attack on the DIG office. On a tip off about the presence of a wanted suspect, police came to the venue of the sit-in and tried to arrest him. However, some protesters resisted the police move leading to a scuffle between police and the protesters.

During the brawl, a man identified as Arman Looni died. The participants of the sit-in claimed that he had died of police torture. They took the body to the district hospital where they raised slogans against police.

Medical Superintendent of Loralai District Hospital Dr Fahim Utmankhail said the man had died before reaching there.

SHO Syed Nasir Shah of the Sadar police station, Loralai, denied the protesters’ claim and said Mr Looni had died of heart attack.

Dr Utmankhail said that protesters had taken away the body before its post-mortem examination could be conducted and, therefore, he could not say anything about the cause of the death.

Later, the body was brought to the Civil Hospital in Quetta where police surgeon conducted its post-mortem with his team.

According to the police surgeon’s report, “No sign of torture or injury was found on the body of the deceased.” However, he said, samples had been collected from different parts of the body and sent to the laboratory for examination.

On the other hand, the bereaved family also believes that Mr Looni’s death was caused by police torture. So does the PTM’s member of the National Assembly Mohsin Dawar.

The MNA and leaders of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and other parties took the body of Arman Looni to Qila Saifullah where he was buried on Sunday. A large number of people attended the funeral prayer.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain deplored the death of Mr Looni and said it seemed that police had been given a “licence to kill”.

In a statement issued in Peshawar, the ANP leader said such incidents were intensifying sense of deprivation among Pakhtun people. He demanded a high-level investigation into the “killing” of Mr Looni and said the culprits must be brought to book.

The chief minister of Balochistan on Sunday ordered Commissioner of Zhob Division Sher Khan Bazai to conduct an inquiry into the death of Mr Looni and submit a report to him in 48 hours.

Zulfiqar Ali in Peshawar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, February 4th , 2019