KARACHI, April 18: A suspected car hijacker died in police custody during interrogation on Thursday.

It is the first custodial death since the new police setup was enforced in early February this year.

Four police officials, responsible for the death of the suspect, had been arrested and booked in the FIR No 94/2002 under section 302 of PPC lodged at Saddar police station. Another officer, who interrogated the suspect, escaped arrest and went into hiding, a senior police officer said.

An inquiry had been ordered into the custodial death and the inquiry team would be headed by the DSP Investigation, Athar Rasheed Butt. He was also investigating the Ramaswami gang-rape case. Two rapists, including a policeman, were still at large. Their relations, including policemen, were under detention to force them to surrender to the police, he added.

The police said that Mohammed Ali alias Usman, hailing from Naushero Feroz, had been picked up by the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police on April 16 for his alleged involvement in hijacking a Toyota Corolla (2001 model) car.

He had been lodged in the old CIA Centre, which had become office of the investigation wing of the police department since the new setup was enforced.

The police said that he was being grilled when his condition deteriorated, and he died before he could be provided medical aid.

Sources, however, claimed that Ali alias Usman had been wrongly implicated in a car hijacking case after he died in police custody.

The investigation wing, where the suspect had allegedly been killed, had been tasked with dealing with homicide cases. The suspect had allegedly been implicated in a car hijacking case and the case had nothing to do with the officials deputed at the investigation wing dealing with homicide cases, the sources said.

However, the SSP Investigation (Homicide), Manzoor Mughal, said: “We have arrested sub-inspector Rao Anwar, Agha Shamshad and ASI Malik Saleem. Inspector Abdul Haque slipped, but we will soon arrest him.”

The suspect died during interrogation, and we have registered a murder case against those interrogating him, he added.

The body was sent to Civil Hospital for post-mortem where the autopsy report had been reserved till the receipt of histopathological and chemical tests, the police said.

KILLED: Two-Persian speaking Afghans were shot dead allegedly by their rivals in New Karachi Industrial Area on Thursday.

The police said that a group of Persian-speaking Afghans were attacked by their rivals in Shafeeq Colony, New Karachi Industrial Area.

The police said that the victims had been identified as Haji Abdul Qayyum, resident of Gulzar-i-Hijri, and Haji Nasir. The bodies were sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for post-mortem.

The Town Police Officer of New Karachi, Arif Mehar, said that both the victims and the attackers were suspected criminals and the killings were the result of a dispute over sharing a booty.

He said that both the men had been shot dead from point-blank range.

The police also recovered one pistol from the possession of one of the dead men.

The police said that several of the gang members, including the two dead men, had been named in a robbery case, in 1999, at Gulzar-i-Hijri police station.