ISLAMABAD: In an unusual move, the capital police escorted an ambulance carrying the body of a teenager who died in police custody to Peshawar.

A family member of the boy, Shabbir Pakhtonyar, told Dawn that they along with the body of the boy were expelled from the capital and escorted by three mobiles of the police from Islamabad to the Peshawar toll plaza.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Afzaal Ahmad Kausar, when contacted, said the SSP investigation was conducting an inquiry to establish the facts.

Besides, the police have also requested the capital administration to order a judicial inquiry into the incident to ascertain the facts, he added.

So far, two police officials have been suspended, the DIG said, adding they would be taken to task if any of them was found guilty.

Earlier on Sunday, Shireen Khan, 15, was found hanged in the lock-ups of Lohi Bher police station. The police claimed that the boy had committed suicide by hanging himself with a waistband tied with a rod of the lock-up’s window.

DIG says two officials suspended, request made for judicial inquiry

However, the victim’s family members alleged that he was subjected to torture which resulted in his death.

Mr Pakhtonyar said the boy came to Islamabad to earn livelihood on Wednesday and police picked him on Friday.

“A policeman called the boy’s father and informed him that his son had been picked on suspicion,” he added.

On Saturday, the father received another call in which his son asked him to get him released from the police custody as he was being subjected to severe torture, Mr Pakhtonyar added.

On Sunday, the police informed the family that the boy had died in custody due to some medical issue with his kidney, he said. But the family refused to accept the police claim, saying he had no medical or health issue.

When the family reached the police station from Peshawar, the police informed them that the boy had committed suicide, he said.

“The police took us to a hospital where the body had already been put in an ambulance and we were asked to embark it,” he said. Later, the ambulance was escorted to Peshawar through the motorway.

The police vehicle returned from the Peshawar toll plaza when the ambulance entered the city, he added.

A police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the boy was caught on Friday snatching cash and ornaments worth Rs300,000 from a woman in PWD Colony. A case was registered with the police on Saturday, he added.

The policemen deployed at the lock-up were not present there, he said, adding the CCTV installed in the lock-ups would reveal the facts.

However, an FIR registered over the snatching incident said there were two persons involved in the crime and both of them escaped.

The culprits were riding a Honda Civic and were in their early 20s. They escaped in the car after robbing the woman, the FIR added.

Other police officers said the legs of the boy were touching the ground when he was found dead. Under such circumstances, suicide is not possible, they added.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2021