March 27, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

LAHORE, March 26: A former owner of a pick-up allegedly used in the suicide blast at FIA headquarters here on March 11 died under mysterious circumstances in police custody on Wednesday.

It could not be ascertained whether Mohammad Afzal, a resident of Lahore’s Mohalla Bilal Ganj, died a natural death or as a result of alleged police torture.

According to sources in the city morgue, Sabzazar police handed the body to morgue officials for autopsy at 3.30 in the afternoon. They initially said the body was that of an ‘unidentified man’.

Two senior police officials _ Saddar division SP Nizam Shahid Durrani and SP (investigation) Jehanzeb Nazir Khan _ expressed ignorance about the incident.

However, Mr Durrani quoted Sabzazar DSP Ashiq Jutt as having said Afzal was brought to the police station on charges of involvement in a vehicle theft. According to a handout, police traced the old record of the pick-up (ST-3985) through its chassis number, and then took Mohammad Afzal, a driver, into custody. He had purchased the vehicle from Toyota King Motors, Abbottabad.Police claimed that Afzal, during interrogation, could not produce evidence that he had sold the vehicle.

This prompted the police to expand the investigation, but the process suffered a setback after Afzal was found dead in his lock-up on Wednesday.

The morgue sources said no apparent marks of torture were seen on the body.

A case of negligence has been registered against three police officials, a Moharrar among them, and a judicial inquiry ordered.

The suspended officials are Mohammad Naeem and constables Sadaqat Ali and Amjad Ali.

An investigator told Dawn that officials of intelligence agencies had also interrogated Afzal.

He believed that Afzal might have died of cardiac arrest following the grilling.

Another official said Afzal had disclosed on Tuesday that he purchased the pick-up for Rs 294,000 and later sold it for Rs 325,000. However, Afzal also said he thought the buyer did not get the vehicle registered in his name.

Capital City Police Officer Malik Mohammad Iqbal said it was premature to speculate about the cause of death. “Only a medical board would determine it after autopsy.”

He said Afzal was in the custody of operations police when he died.

He would not reveal details of the interrogation.

The family told a television network that Afzal had been picked up by police a few days ago for “unknown reasons”.