SIALKOT, July 9: An alleged thief was tortured to death and his accomplice injured at the outhouse of an influential politician outside Sahowali village in Sadar police precincts on Saturday.

It’s said that some armed men picked up Mubashar and Rizwan from their houses in Sahowali village late on Friday night and took them to their outhouse away from the village.

They held Mubashar and Rizwan responsible for the theft of valuables from their outhouse and beat them up for hours instead of handing them over to the police. They threw the two men near their houses when they fell unconscious.

Both accused were taken to the DHQ Hospital, where Mubashar succumbed to his injuries sometime later and Rizwan’s condition was said to be critical.

Doctors said both men were tortured and given electric shocks.

Mubashar’s family said Raza Subhani, the younger brother of former provincial minister Armughan Subhani, was among those who tortured factory workers Mubashar and Rizwan.

Mubashar and Rizwan’s families and relatives staged a protest against the incident outside emergency department of the hospital on Saturday.

Sadar police have registered a case (465/2011) under sections 148, 149, 302 and 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code against 11 men, including Raza Subhani. However, no one had been arrested till Saturday evening.

District Police Officer Bilal Siddiq Kamiyana said police were conducting raids to arrest nominated men Shahid Pehlwan, Billu, Rashid, Ghulam Rasool, Muhammad Sultan, Amin Chatha, Boota, Sharafat and Boota Sharif.

Armughan Subhani told reporters that his brother was implicated in the case by his family’s political rivals like Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and Pakistan People’s Party MPA Tahir Mehmood Hundali.—Correspondent