Suspect allegedly tortured to death in Narowal; police calls it suicide

A suspect being held in the custody of the Shah Gharib Police Station in Narowal was allegedly tortured to death while police claimed that he had committed suicide.

A case has also been registered against two officials for negligence, Dawn reports.

The victim was identified as Muhammad Farooq, son of Mushtaq Ahmed, a resident of village Kadiala who was in police custody on charge of motorcycle theft.

He was found dead in the lock-up. His family has alleged that he was in the custody of the police for the last many days and that police tortured him to death during the interrogation. They outright rejected police claims of suicide.

Ghulam Mustafa, the spokesperson for the local district police, said police arrested the suspect in theft cases. On August 31 (Saturday), after Fajr’s prayers, a constable checked the lock-up and found Farooq had committed suicide by tying hanging. He added that Farooq had confessed to stealing 11 motorcycles. Police recovered four motorcycles from him, while seven were yet to be recovered.

District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Naveed Malik took notice of the death of the suspect in police lock-up and sought forensic analysis and a judicial inquiry.

While Farooq’s family appealed to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar to take immediate notice of the situation, DSP/SDPO Shakargarh Shehbaz Cheema registered an FIR of the incident claiming that CCTV footage from the police station showed Farooq putting a noose around his neck and hanging himself by the door of the washroom.

He stressed that the suspect committed suicide due to the negligence of moharar and constable, and a case was registered against them in Shah Gharib Police Station.