MULTAN, June 25: Seven policemen of Vehari were suspended from service on Saturday after initial findings of an inquiry into the alleged stitching of the lips of an under-trial prisoner.

Inquiry officers ADIG Nawaz Lotharr and Vehari DSP (Headquarters) Majeed Chisti visited the Multan central jail on Saturday and met prisoner Muhammad Hussain, now under treatment at the jail hospital. They also interviewed the hospital staff.

Mr Lotharr later submitted his initial report to Multan range DIG Malik Muhammad Iqbal.

Those suspended are sub-inspectors Younas Umer and Nawaz Motha, head constable Muhammad Bakhsh and constables Munawwar, Jehangir, Rustam Ali and Zakir Husain.

Prisoner Muhammad Hussain was driven to Vehari from Multan central jail on June 22 to attend the sessions court there hearing an abduction case against him.

He allegedly had a scuffle with a fellow prisoner Imran alias Mana in the judicial lock-up. Later, he urged policemen on guard to punish Imran. He injured himself by hitting himself against the iron bars of the lock-up when the police refused to oblige.

He was taken to the hospital for the first aid. Daniwal police secured a medico-legal certificate and afterwards registered a case against him for attempted suicide. In this process, he could not be shifted back to the prison in Multan and was kept in the judicial lock-up for another day.

On June 23, Muhammad Hussain and a policeman Muhammad Din exchanged hot words and later on came to blows. He started shouting and abusing the policemen. Thereafter, his lips were allegedly stitched by the policemen. The Vehari police Has denied the charge.

Daniwal police SHO Rasheed Ahmed said that, according to the MLC, Hussain had no injury on his face. However, a source in the Multan central jail said that the prisoner had injuries on his chin and cheeks when the Vehari police brought him back. The prisoner told the jail authorities that police had also kept him for some time in Vehari’s Machhiwal police station.

The source said that Hussain was also beaten up by the central jail authorities on his return to make him ‘cooperative’.