ISLAMABAD: SSP Asher Hameed was found dead at his official residence, located within the heavily guarded Police Lines Headquarters, under unexplained circumstances on Friday, police said.

Hameed was recently surrendered to the Establishment Division by the Islamabad police, where he was working as an assistant inspector general of police (operations).

He was found dead by his cook Idrees, police said, who quoted him as saying: “I found him dead, lying on the floor along the bedside and bleeding from his nose,” Idrees told the police.

The SSP’s staff told the police that he used to leave Islamabad on Friday to visit his family in Lahore, but today, he came back to his residence to sleep.

The deceased was shifted to a hospital for medical procedures to establish the cause of death. The police, however, immediately declared the cause of death to be cardiac arrest. They said he had a history of cardiac problems and lost his elder brother to cardiac arrest some six months ago.

The deceased’s colleagues told Dawn he was in ninth place in the Common Training Programme 24, and while all of his batch mates were made DIGs, he had not been promoted.

“During the last month, differences erupted between him and the inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad,” a colleague said, adding that he was surrendered to the Establishment Division and was being transferred to the Balochistan police.

Colleagues said his likely transfer to the Balochistan police had distressed him, and he was also aggrieved by the death of his elder brother.

The IGP’s spokesperson, Inspector Tahir Khan, confirmed that Hameed was surrendered to the Establishment Division by the IGP. He also said his family had a history of cardiac problems, as did he.

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences former medico-legal officer, Dr Wasim Khawaja, said bleeding from the nose and mouth due to cardiac arrest was rare.

“Bleeding can only take place if the deceased has blood pressure, sugar or liver problems along with heart problems, but in this case the chances are also rare,” he said.

He said the possibility of a brain haemorrhage could not be ruled out in light of the bleeding, but added that an autopsy would determine the actual cause of death.

“A histopathology test will determine if the cause of death was a heart attack,” he said, and added that a complete autopsy would be required to ascertain the cause of death.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016