HYDERABAD, May 27: District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput paid a surprise visit to a police station in Latifabad late Friday night and found five men detained illegally who were subsequently released.

Mr Rajput told Dawn that he paid the visit to B-section police station after failing to contact senior investigation officer over complaints that the police had detained several men who were not named in any FIR at the station in connection with a case of theft. He said that he found five men, Ali Imam, a pharmaceutical company representative; Amir, an estate agency owner; Naveed Javed, a bank official; Shamshad and Dilshad, detained at the station.

Police later released them because they had no entry in station diary about their detention neither had they obtained remand from a court.

Senior investigating officer Javed Sheikh said that the suspects were picked up by ASI Nasir Nawab and they were being interrogated in connection with an FIR.