LAHORE, March 9: A fraud accused died in police custody here at the Defence investigation wing on Tuesday. Claiming that Pervez Akhtar Lodhi, 40, died of heart attack in the lock-up, the police said he had been in their custody for some days.

This is the second death in police custody within a week, as officials from the police investigation wing had allegedly murdered a man on the Ravi Road five days ago.

The police said Mr Lodhi had issued a Rs6 million cheque to his creditor, Mulazim Husain. However, the cheque bounced and a case was registered against Mr Lodhi, the police said, also alleging that at least two similar cases had already been registered against him.

The police said a court remanded the accused in judicial custody on Monday, but he could not be sent to prison. They claimed that the accused was detained in the lock-up where he suffered from a cardiac arrest and died. The body was sent to the city mortuary for autopsy.

City police chief, DIG Tariq Saleem, appointed the Cantonment police SP (investigation) inquiry officer. He ordered the officer to submit him a report at the earliest.