SARGODHA, April 15: Police allegedly tortured a youth to death and threw his body from Daman-i-Koh, Islamabad, giving it the colour of suicide.

The mother of Shahid Mahmood alias Chanda, 28, of Rehmanpura told this correspondent on Saturday that Satellite Town police arrested her son on the charge of kidnap for ransom on April 11.

They tortured him to death in custody and buried his body on the night of April 13 after a postmortem examination without informing her.

An insider told Dawn that Qaiser Hamdani disappeared some two weeks ago. He called his parents by phone and told them that he was kidnapped by some people from the NWFP who were demanding Rs9.2 million ransom.

The parents of the kidnapped boy informed the police who arrested about two dozen people, including Chanda, reported to be a friend of the kidnapped boy.

A police official, seeking anonymity, said Chanda reportedly told them that he could contact the kidnappers. He led them to Islamabad where he contacted the kidnappers and told them that he had received the ransom amount. He asked them to bring the victim to Daman-i-Koh.

He claimed that when no-body turned up, he jumped from the hills and died on the night of April 12.

Though Sargodha DPO Ahmad Mubarik has ordered an inquiry, the mystery still shrouded the death of Chanda and police failure to recover the kidnapped boy.

When contacted, the police high ups and investigating team were reluctant to discuss the issue.