KARACHI: A young man, who was arrested in a murder case, died under controversial circumstances in a police lock-up on Tuesday.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that suspect Khalilur Rehman, 30, was arrested on Monday for allegedly murdering his brother-in-law, Mumtaz, in Shirin Jinnah Colony on Oct 20.

He was booked in a case registered under Section 316 (punishment for Qatl shibh-i-amd) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Boat Basin police station.

The DIG claimed that the suspect took his own life in the police lock-up by hanging himself with his shirt.

He said that Inspector Abdul Ghaffar of the investigation branch and Assistant Sub-Inspector Shahzeb Rehman were suspended with immediate effect pending inquiry into their conduct.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for a post-mortem examination. However, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the autopsy was not carried out till late in the evening.

Boat Basin SHO Naseer Tanoli told Dawn that the suspect killed his brother-in-law during a quarrel over some family issue and he was in a ‘pensive mood’, knowing his actions left his sister, mother of four children, a widow.

He said that the suspect went to the washroom at around Fajr, used his shirt to create a noose and hanged himself from the lock-up window.

The SHO said that other suspects in the lock-up raised an alarm and a duty sentry rushed in, but by then he was already dead.

Published in Dawn, October 23th, 2024