BAHAWALPUR, Aug 31: Judicial and departmental inquiries will be held to ascertain the cause of death of a local trader who allegedly died due to police torture during custody some four days ago in Ahmadpur East, the DPO said on Friday.

DPO Arif Nawaz said the district and sessions judge had been moved to order a judicial inquiry while the SP headquarters had been directed to conduct a departmental inquiry to determine the cause of death of Muhammad Azam who died while he was being interrogated in a theft case at Ahmadpur East’s city police station.

The DPO said constables Shabeer and Saeed and head-constable Zahoor had already been arrested after registration of a case against them under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint by Azam’s family.

He said the chief minister had announced a financial assistance of Rs400,000 for the trader’s family.

Azam was allegedly tortured to death on Tuesday and his death sparked protest demonstrations during which the locals had set a police van on fire.