KARACHI, July 19: A man detained in a joint operation by the Rangers and police following a recent gun attack on a Rangers motorcycle squad in the Sachal area died from torture in the custody of law-enforcers under controversial circumstances on Friday, officials said.

The suspect, identified as Mohammad Bilal, had remained in the custody of Rangers for two days before being handed over to the Sachal police, according to officials.

While the Sachal police said the suspect was handed over to them by the Rangers in a ‘critical condition’, the Rangers claimed that they had given his custody to the police in ‘perfect health condition’ with no ‘torture signs’ on his body.

To ascertain the circumstances leading to the death and fix its responsibility, DIG (east) Capt Tahir Naveed ordered an inquiry and tasked Malir SP Dr Mohammad Najeeb and Malir SP (Investigation) Abbas Rizvi with the probe. “We are holding an inquiry into the incident and all would be revealed in the report,” said SP Rizvi.

“When Bilal’s custody was handed over to the police, the other day, he was almost dying,” claimed Sohrab Goth DSP Mohammad Khalid. Sachal SHO Aijaz Rajpar said the suspect was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors said his “wounds were 36 hours old”. His condition deteriorated further on Friday and he died while being taken to the hospital.

However, a Rangers spokesperson insisted that Bilal died in “police custody”. The spokesperson said he was detained along with three other criminals during a joint search operation in Ali Town/Sikandar Goth on July 15. The operation was launched shortly after the Rangers motorcycle squad came under an attack in the area.

Bilal along with his associates was handed over to the police with no torture signs in perfect health on July 17, according to the Rangers spokesperson.

The spokesperson also claimed that when they handed over six persons along with the items seized from them to the Sachal police after ‘necessary investigation’ on July 17, the police officer concerned, identified as sub-inspector Asghar, did not make any objection while signing a ‘handing/taking over certificate’.

However, SHO Rajpar said that the Rangers had given the custody of the suspect on July 18 and not on July 17 as being claimed by them.

“I don’t want to comment on Rangers’ claims but facts will be revealed in the inquiry report,” said the DIG (east). “I have ordered inquiry report within 24 hours,” he added.

He said that the body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination. The autopsy report indicated that the suspect had been tortured to death, the DIG said.