ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: A former NWFP minister, allegedly involved in car-lifting, claimed before a judicial magistrate that he was tortured by the anti-car lifting cell of the Islamabad police.

Naqibullah Khan further claimed that besides sustaining several internal and muscular injuries, his arm was also fractured.

He was caught by the Golra police allegedly trying to flee to Peshawar after stealing a vehicle from Rawalpindi early this month. He has been in police custody since then.

The minister further complained that he was not allowed to sleep for four continuous nights and was subjected to severe mental torture.

He claimed that Gul Mohammad, stated to be a relative of the DSP, owed him Rs1.1 million since long. Despite reminders, he failed to pay his money.

The former minister contended that he had made it clear to Gul Mohammad that if he did not return his money, he would take his car.

He insisted that he was never involved in car-lifting and that all allegations against him were ill founded. He claimed that the police wanted him to confess to all car-thefts reported in Islamabad during the past several years.

He said the police did not recover any vehicle from his possession and their claim that four vehicles were found from his possession was baseless.

The prosecution, however, claimed that he was involved in car-lifting and that it needed more time to interrogate the accused.

The court, however, remanded him to the same anti-car lifting police for another four days.

Earlier, he was produced in the court amid tight security. The police, who guarded him, were derogatory to the reporters present there.

The accused would now be produced before the court on February 25.