RAWALPINDI: The family of a man who died in New Town police custody placed the body of the deceased on Khayaban-i-Sir Syed to protest his death, leading to the registration of a murder case against five officials including the New Town station house officer (SHO) on Tuesday.

Two constables out of the five officials have disappeared since the man’s death was reported on Dec 9.

City Police Officer Mohammad Ahsan Younus has suspended all five booked officials, who include an inspector, two assistant sub-inspectors and two constables.

The family of the deceased began their protest at around 2:30pm, demanding the registration of a murder case.

They then moved the body to I.J. Principal Road, where the protest also caused traffic congestion on link roads between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Murder case registered against five police officials including SHO, all of whom have been suspended

The protest ended after a police team led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohammad Faisal assured the family their complaint would be entertained and an FIR registered.

A police spokesperson said five police officials have been suspended and an FIR has been registered against them on the complaint of Mohammad Shakeel, the brother of the deceased.

He had been on his way home after dropping his family off at his in-laws’ home in Sadiqabad just before midnight, Mr Shakeel said in the FIR.

Mr Shakeel said a local resident, Tariq, told him on Monday morning that his brother’s body was at the Holy Family Hospital.

“We want to register a case against the police officials who detained my brother and were on duty that night,” he said in FIR.

Shaki was on a motorcycle with another person when a police patrolling team signalled them to stop in the New Town area around midnight.

He was taken into police custody after he fell off the motorcycle onto the road, while the other person on the motorcycle fled, leading the motorcycle behind.

He was then taken to the police station, where he was interrogated by two constables.

He was taken to a hospital after his condition deteriorated, where he died.

The family of the deceased have accused the police of torturing Shaki to death.

The superintendent of police investigation has claimed that the man appeared to have died a natural death and the police did not find marks of torture on his body.

The police constituted a medical board to carry out a post-mortem examination at the District Headquarters Hospital, in response to the family’s protest.

A police spokesperson said the investigation into the case would be completed once the final post-mortem report is received.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2019