KARACHI: Seven policemen were suspended after a “teenage boy” died under controversial circumstances in the custody of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of police, it emerged on Friday.

While the police claimed that Muhammad Irfan died of heart attack, his relatives alleged that he was tortured to death.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the body of a man, identified as Irfan, was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for a post-mortem examination.

She said there were “multiple injuries on the body”, but the cause of death was reserved until the receipt of chemical examination reports.

According to the police papers submitted to the medico-legal section of the JPMC, the deceased was 30 years old, whereas his relatives told journalists that he was only 16.

Autopsy finds ‘multiple injuries on the body’; city police chief claims Irfan died of heart attack

Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho told Dawn that the deceased, along with three other persons, was detained over suspicion of being involved in robberies. He claimed that soon after being taken into custody, the man apparently suffered a “heart attack” and died.

He said the post-mortem examination had been conducted in the presence of a magistrate concerned, and they were waiting for the doctors’ final report to initiate formal legal proceedings.

He said if any torture or wrongdoing was found in the report, the policemen would not only face departmental action, but also criminal proceedings.

He said he had taken notice of the incident and appointed the Korangi SSP as an inquiry officer to ascertain the circumstances which led to the death.

Family demands justice

The young man’s relatives told the media at the hospital that Irfan had come from his native town, Ahmedpur East, to Karachi recently. H,e along with his three friends, went to have breakfast at Ayesha Manzil on Wednesday morning. Since then, he and his three friends had been missing, while their cell phones had also remained switched off.

On Thursday evening, Irfan’s uncle received a phone call from the SIU office, informing him about the death of his nephew. The relatives claimed that the young man had died due to torture and urged the chief minister of Sindh and the police chief to provide justice.

Senior journalist Shahid Jatoi, in his social media post, said that the deceased’s mother suffered a heart attack after hearing the news of her son’s death.

Meanwhile, SIU SSP Amjad Ahmed Shaikh told Dawn that the police received a tip-off that four suspects were making videos of banks and ATMs, upon which an SIU team detained them from Ayesha Manzil on Wednesday.

They were brought to the SIU/CIA Centre in Saddar at around 5:30pm on the same day, and 15 minutes later, the health condition of Irfan deteriorated. He was taken to the JPMC, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival, he said.

He claimed there were no “torture marks” on his body.

He said medical examinations of three other suspects were also conducted.

He said the final report was expected within two days, and in light of the report, further action would be taken.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2025