LARKANA, June 22 A convicted prisoner died in mysterious circumstances on Monday in the central prison Larkana.

Muneer Ali Mishwani had hanged himself in the washroom of an under-construction building of the jail, claimed Jail superintendent Aijaz Haidar.

But Medico-Legal Officer Dr Rahim Baloch, who conducted the prisoner's post-mortem, said preliminary reports depicted that he had been tortured to death.

Muneer was convicted in May 2008 by the special judge narcotics Larkana and was in jail since Feb 11, 2004, sources said.

The body was shifted to Chandka Medical College Hospital for autopsy in the presence of the first judicial magistrate.

The medico-legal officer said the signs of torture were visible on the lower parts of limbs, chest and shoulders of the prisoner and the injuries were what he called 'diffused'. The signs were about 12 hours old, he added.

He said the injuries had been caused with a hard blunt object.

Asked about the signs around the neck of the prisoner, he said “It is a drama.” Someone had tried to print marks of the rope around the neck to give an impression that he had committed suicide, but the marks had been made after his death, the MLO said.

The prisoner was the resident of the Mohammed Khail Panchali area near Quetta, Balochistan.

His relatives were on way to Larkana to collect the body, said the deputy superintendent of jail.