LAHORE: A 20-year-old suspect, who was arrested in connection with sexual assault and murder of a six-year-old boy in a mosque in Green Town, was killed with a gunfire shot during a ‘scuffle’ in police custody in Muslim Town area here on Monday.

The CIA police claimed Shoaib Sharif, of Behari Colony, Green Town, received a bullet in his chest during a scuffle with policemen who were taking him to an anti-terrorism court in a police vehicle on Canal Road.

Police had taken Shoaib into custody along with eight other suspects after the child was found hanged with a piece of rope at the upper portion of a mosque on Jan 2.

The police cross-matched the swabs of all arrested suspects with the swabs taken from the victim’s body during DNA tests and found the exact match with Shoaib Sharif who was a barber in the same locality where the child lived.

SSP (Investigation) Rana Ayyaz Saleem said Nawankot CIA Inspector Shamim Pal was taking Shoaib to an ATC when the suspect, who was sitting in the rear part of the vehicle, tried to snatch the rifle of a constable. He said the weapon, during the struggle, discharged and a bullet hit Shoaib’s chest and he died instantly.

He said the suspect, whose body was shifted to a hospital for an autopsy, had lured the boy to the upper portion of the mosque, forced him to make sex and, upon his refusal, hit him to the ground.

The SSP said, after the child fell unconscious, the suspect sodomised him and later hanged him with a grill for fear of being arrested.

Mr Saleem said the police had initially taken into custody three people, including prayer-caller of the mosque, for interrogation as the incident had occurred on the mosque premises.

The SSP said all eight suspects were released after suspect Shoaib confessed to his offence following a strong evidence.

Published in Dawn January 27th, 2015

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