RAHIM YAR KHAN: The man, whose video of breaking open an ATM machine, making faces and sticking out tongue at the CCTV camera, had gone viral, died during interrogation in police custody here on Sunday.

The deceased, identified as Salahuddin Ayubi of Gujranwala’s town of Kamoke, was arrested on Friday after people caught him. He was handed over to the City A-Division police.

His video of breaking an ATM machine in Faisalabad was recorded by the surveillance camera which showed him making ridiculous movements while breaking the machine. However, the strange part of it was that he did not take away cash despite breaking the ATM machine. He took away only an ATM card. Another video of him went viral on Sunday recorded during interrogation. He is seen replying to a police official, asking him where the police learnt killing people. In this video clip, his shirt buttons seem to have been torn away while he is drenched in sweat.

According to the district police officer’s spokesperson, Zeeshan Randhawa, Ayubi was behaving like a mad man in the lock-up when he suddenly became unwell. He said the suspect was unconscious when he was shifted to the emergency ward of Sheikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital where doctors confirmed his death. He did not give the reasons as to why a hale and hearty suspect lost his consciousness while he was still being interrogated.

As per Randhawa, Ayubi was dead when he was brought to the hospital. According to Dr Burhan Mustafa, the focal person for the hospital, the director of the emergency ward could not comment on the condition in which the deceased was brought to the hospital.

The DPO’s spokesperson said the reason for Ayubi’s death would be ascertained in the post-mortem report. He said DPO Umar Farooq Salamat had constituted an inquiry team, headed by a superintendent of police, to look into the matter.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2019