Police brutality? Man dies after fall from hotel roof

LAHORE: A man died after falling from the roof of a multi-storied hotel in Mozang late on Saturday. The family of the deceased has accused police of throwing him from the roof. Jahangir, 24, had been a resident of Vehari.

Police had raided Taj Hotel and arrested six men and seven women. Munawar Hussain, father of the deceased, said that the hotel management had told him that police had first beaten up Jahangir and then threw him off the roof for not paying bribes.

Police said that they had raided the hotel after receiving a tip-off that a criminal was present in the hotel. “Circumstantial evidence suggests that Jahangir panicked during the raid and fled to the roof of the hotel. It was dark and there was no fence on the roof. We received a call in the morning about a body lying in a street next to the hotel,” police said.

Police have registered a case against the hotel management under Sections 371 A (prostitution), 216 (harbouring dacoits or robbers) of Pakistan Penal Code and Section 11 of the Tenancy Act.

Police said that the body had been taken to a hospital for post mortem examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2016.