LAHORE – Dr Shahbaz Gill, a key leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was reported missing from Services Hospital in the Punjab capital on Friday.
Gill, former special assistant to ousted prime minister Imran Khan, was arrested on August 9, 2022, on charges of sedition and inciting the public against the state institutions. He has been on bail in the sedition case since September 15.
Gill was admitted to Lahore’s Services Hospital with breathing problems around two weeks ago. On Friday, the doctor on duty reported Gill’s absence from the ward to the Medical Superintendent through a letter.
The on-duty doctor wrote, “It is stated that during today’s visit to VVIP room or regular follow-up of patient Dr. Shahbaz Gill from Medical Unit-II, it was found that he is no longer admitted in the hospital. No hospital file or record could be retrieved from VVIP Ward. Medical Unit-II was not informed at the time he left the hospital. Kindly note his absence from hospital.”
On Saturday, journalist Muqadas Farooq Awan tweeted the letter written by the Services Hospital doctor to the Medical Superintendent about Gill’s absence from the ward with the caption, “Where is Shahbaz Gill?”
Earlier on August 9, when the PTI leadership alleged that Gill was picked by some men in plainclothes for speaking against Pakistan’s powerful army, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said that Gill was arrested by the Islamabad police “in accordance with the law” on charges of sedition and inciting the public against the state institutions.
“He will be presented before a court tomorrow,” he said, adding that a first information report (FIR) had been registered against the PTI leader on behalf of the state.