Family blames police torture after man detained for interrogation dies

The family of an arrested suspect who died under mysterious circumstances on Sunday accused the police of torturing him to death in their custody.

The deceased man was a rickshaw driver, Abdul Rasheed, who had earlier been detained for his alleged involvement in an over-Rs12.5 million robbery at a mobile phone shop in the Gizri area.

His family alleged that he was killed due to severe police torture on him and demanded dismissal of job and legal action against those involved in torturing him. The deceased man was the father of three children and lived in Qayyumabad’s D area. He hailed from Okara.

A case of a robbery at a mobile phone shop located in Seher Commercial in Defence was registered at the Gizri police station a few days ago. The Gizri police said that with the help of CCTV footage, they detained the rickshaw driver for interrogation.

He died on Sunday morning at his home. The body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for post-mortem, where the rickshaw driver’s wife, brother and other relatives said that the South investigation police had arrested him a day after the robbery at the mobile phone shop.

The family alleged that during the detention, the police brutally tortured him and when they went to the Gizri police station and then to the Darakhshan police station to meet him, they were turned away and police denied having any person named Abdul Rasheed in their custody.

The family said that on Friday night, they received a phone call from the Darakhshan police station asking them to come and take Rasheed home. They added that when they reached the police station, Rasheed’s condition was critical as he had been tortured.

According to the family, Rasheed had injuries on his body and he was unable to walk when they took him home. “Abdul Rasheed told us that the police officers sometimes hanged him upside down and sometimes upright,” the family alleged.

The family maintained that on Saturday, they took the man to a hospital where he underwent a medical examination, which showed that he had suffered internal injuries. A doctor prescribed some medicines to him, after which the family took him home. However, he died in the morning.

The family said they wanted justice for Rasheed. Whoever tortured him should be dismissed from job and legal action should be initiated against them, they said. According to the family, the suspects involved in the robbery had gone to Korangi in Rasheed’s rickshaw and they also did not pay Rs800 fare to him.

According to a spokesperson for the District South investigations I SP, an FIR was registered under the sections 397, 392 and 34 at the Gizri police station over the robbery incident at the mobile phone shop on March 12 and with the help of CCTV footage, it was found that the rickshaw used in the robbery was owned by Rasheed, after which he was detained for interrogation.

According to the spokesperson, the news of the death of the rickshaw driver was received by the Police Helpline Madadgar 15 on Sunday morning, after which a post-mortem examination was conducted. “Strict action would be taken if any cop was found involved in torturing him during detention,” the spokesperson said.