A suspect in a murder case who was being held at the Girja Police Chowki of Saddar Bairuni Police Station died on Thursday after he allegedly hanged himself in the lock-up.
Irshad Khan, who was arrested and remanded in a murder case, died under mysterious circumstances between 3am and 4pm during a power outage while the other inmate in the cell was asleep, claimed the police.
The police had arrested Khan from Pirwadhai for his alleged involvement in the killing of his fiancée’s grandfather, Gul Muhammad, a few days ago. The police claimed that he killed Gul after the victim barred him from going to the girl’s house before the wedding.
On the other hand, senior police officials denied that Khan was even engaged with the girl.
A torn-up pillow and a piece of rope were found near the body after, Dalair, who was in the same lock-up as Khan, raised hue and cry and informed the police on duty about the hanging, said the police.
Three police officials — Sub Inspector Sabir, who was also the investigation officer of the murder case, Head Constable Wajid and Constable Akbar Ali, were on duty and did not have a clue about what was happening inside the lockup.
“I still don’t know from where he got the rope from,” Sabir told The Express Tribune. “We obviously do not provide such things,” he added. Sabir said that both prisoners were asleep on their charpoys and “everything appeared normal”. After we were informed, he said, we rushed to the lockup and saw the man hanging from a rope made from the pillowcase, along with a “piece of real rope” attached to a metal hook in the ceiling.
“He used the charpoy to reach the ceiling,” said Sabir, adding, “Even the man sleeping next to him only found out what happened after he woke up.” He said that Khan committed suicide after he got “heartbroken”.
He said that high-ups were immediately informed about the incident and they inspected the cell as well as the body. The body was taken to District Headquarter Hospital for autopsy and later handed over to his family.
SP Saddar Sardar Ghayas said that all three police officials were suspended and would soon be dismissed as they were responsible for keeping an eye on prisoners’ activities round the clock but had failed to do so. “No torture marks were found on the body when inspected,” he said, “it appears to be a simple hanging.”
The SP, however, said that Khan was not engaged to the girl and he allegedly killed her grandfather after a marriage proposal was rejected. He added that Khan had confessed to killing Gul after he was arrested.
Ghayas revealed that Khan was “disheartened after the police included the girl in the investigation”. She was called in to the police station a day earlier to determine if she was involved in the murder, he added.
Ghayas said Khan had previously been fined Rs100,000 by a jirga for “having a connection with the girl”. He said that a medical board has already examined the body and will give its report soon. “A case will be registered against the suspended officials if they are found guilty in the postmortem.”
Despite several attempts, the victim’s family could not be reached for comment.
Earlier a murder case was registered against Khan at the Saddar Bairuni Police Station. He had been was sent on police remand in the murder case till September 12 by a district and sessions court.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2014.
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