LAHORE, Oct 16: A murder case was registered against Kot Lakhpat station house officer and his five subordinates after a man allegedly tortured by the policemen on Oct 12 succumbed to his injuries at Jinnah Hospital on Sunday.

The accused policemen were also suspended from service by the capital city police chief.

The family of the deceased, Abdul Razzaq (65), a resident of Ghulam Muhammad Bhatti Colony, alleged that he was tortured in Kot Lakhpat police custody.

Police, however, claimed the victim was taken into custody during a raid at a house conducted for the arrest of Razzaq’s son, a proclaimed offender in a murder case. The police claimed that narcotics and liquor were also recovered from Razzaq’s house during the raid.

According to the First Information Report lodged under Section 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, complainant Haji Muhammad Zakariya, who lived with his brother Razzaq, stated that he woke up around 1am after hearing some voices.

He said that he saw the Kot Lakhpat SHO Sanaullah and ASI Asad Shahzad, along with 10 unidentified people, in the courtyard of the house.

He said as Razzaq dared to question the police’s entry into the house, the policemen started beating him.

He said in the presence of witnesses, including neighbours Baber, Zafar Mehmood and Iffat Ali, the police subjected Razzaq and his son Naveed Ahmed to severe torture and then took them to the police station.

The complainant said the SHO kept torturing Razzaq at the police station and later some police officials dropped the victim at his doorstep in a critical condition the same day.

The family shifted the unconscious victim to Jinnah Hospital where he died in small hours of Sunday.

The complainant stated that the police tortured Razzaq to teach him a lesson for filing a petition against Kot Lakhpat SHO in Sessions Court, seeking acquittal in a case.

However, Model Town division SP (Operations) Malik Muhammad Awais claimed the SHO and his team raided the house of Razzaq, who along with his sons allegedly peddled drugs, to arrest his son Aurangzab alias Mithu, who was nominated in a murder case after a woman died in crossfire between two gangs of drug peddlers last month.

He said the police arrested Razzaq after three kilograms of narcotics and liquor were recovered during the raid.

Denying torture allegations, the SP said Razzaq was rushed to Jinnah Hospital a few hours after his arrest as he fell unconscious because of some other reason.

He said it remained a mystery that how the accused was granted bail on Oct 13 when he (victim) was in a coma.

The SP said according to official documents the victim was not in police custody when he was injured, adding the police would investigate how the victim suffered the injuries.

The SP said Razzaq and his four sons were facing 13 cases involving offences like brawl, sale of narcotics and liquor, murder and possession of illegal weapons.

He said a case had been registered against the SHO and his five subordinates on the complaint of the victim’s family.