Suspect commits suicide in police custody

Khairullah, 25, was arrested by the ACLC on Friday for motorcycle theft.

KARACHI: A young Afghan man, arrested for his alleged involvement in motorcycle theft, committed suicide inside a police lockup on Saturday morning.

Khairullah, 25, was arrested by the Anti-Car Lifting Cell during a raid at Munawar Chowrangi, Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Friday evening. He was later handed over for further investigation to the Sharae Faisal police, in whose custody he allegedly committed suicide.

Following his death, a large number of his family members and relatives gathered outside the police station, shouting slogans against the law enforcers. They refused to take Khairullah's body until the policemen responsible for the incident were punished. His family claimed that the police took Khairullah into custody from his residence in Sohrab Goth for interrogation and later tortured him to death.

Sharae Faisal SHO Khalid Nadeem Baig claimed that the deceased was a professional motorcycle lifter and a snatched motorcycle was also seized from his possession during his arrest. He said that a man from whom he stole a motorcycle had also identified him during the investigation, adding that three or four cases had already been registered against him.

The officer said that the inmate had hanged himself from the bathroom window with his own drawstring. He claimed that the post-mortem was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in the presence of a magistrate, while a board of doctors had also confirmed that he was not tortured but had committed suicide. SHO Baig also said that Khairullah's family had already disowned him because of his criminal activities and did not stage a protest after his death.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2015.