LAHORE, June 14: A PPP office-bearer from Gujrat, who was detained by police a few days ago during raids in the province against opposition activists, died in the Kot Lakhpat Jail “due to cardiac arrest” on Thursday evening.

Sermad Mansoor, a heart patient, was finance secretary of the party’s Gujrat district chapter.

A spokesman for the PPP, Punjab, claimed that Mansoor was admitted to a local hospital in Gujrat where he had been detained by the police and sent to the Kot Lakhpat Jail under detention orders.

Jail officials were informed by the family about Mansoor’s poor health and a request was made to admit him to a hospital but the officials concerned turned it down. On Thursday evening, Mansoor died in the jail.

After hearing the news of his death, party leader Ahmed Mukhtar and Gujrat office-bearers along with the victim’s family went to the jail and lodged a protest against jail officials and the Punjab chief minister.

Punjab PPP president Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other office-bearers, in a statement, condemned the death and held Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi responsible for it.

Terming the death murder, they said the party would take legal action against the Punjab government, especially against the chief minister.