MULTAN: An alleged robber died in police custody on Thursday night.

Police said the suspect committed suicide and they had nothing to do with the incident.

The New Multan police arrested Hamza, 27, a resident of Kirri Jamindaan, in connection with an FIR No74/21 lodged under section 392 of Pakistan Penal Code.

Police obtained the physical remand of the accused from the area magistrate. Hamza, they said, was alone in the lockup and during night time committed suicide.

Police higher-ups including the city police officer reached the police station, inspected the incident place and had the body shifted to the Nishtar Hospital where its postmortem was conducted.

Sources said the police higher-ups were informed that the deceased was wanted in six cases of robberies -- four are lodged with the Delhi Gate police and two with the New Multan police. They said that as no recovery of any weapon was made from the deceased, police were claiming that the deceased used to rob the people by using fake pistol while he was also an addict.

SSP Operations Zeeshan Haidar told the local media that the muharrar and a constable had been suspended from service. He said police had also got the CCTV footage of the incident. The deceased, he said, was arrested in the past for being involved in a robbery near Behar Chowk.

Gulgashat SP Dr Tanveer Raza said investigation into the incident had been started.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2021