Another man dies in police custody

Suspect was allegedly booked in several drug cases

LAHORE: Another death in police custody was reported in the provincial capital on Friday. The family of the deceased alleged that police torture resulted in the victim’s death.

Police claimed that the acceded died due to cardiac arrest in captivity and shared a list of charges leveled against the accused.

The victim identified as Sarfaraz was arrested by police over drug dealing charge.

A few years back another suspected drug dealer had died in police custody after his condition deteriorated due to physical afflictions.

District jail declines to accept new prisoners

Lahore police has a history of in-custody deaths besides the ones mentioned above. Last year, a man held for a minor’s sexual assault had strangled himself inside a lockup in a City Division police station.

Similarly, a gardener accused of theft had succumbed to grave injuries inflicted by police in September last year. He had been held by Cantonment division police.

The same week, a man who was spotted in an illegal detention center in Gujjarpura had died in Ganga Ram hospital. The unfortunate victim was recovered from an illegal center wherein a police party was subjecting him with the worst form of torture.

Several videos of police brutality have gone viral in the past resulting in booking of at least six policemen over time.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2020.