The curious case of Mohammad Shabbir`s death

KARACHI: A man arrested on suspicion of stealing motorcycles died due to heart failure in Central Jail Karachi, however, his family claimed that the deceased was mentally challenged and they had earlier registered a report of his disappearance at Bahadurabad police station.

"My father went missing on February 18," said Hamza Shabbir, son of Mohammad Shabbir, while speaking to Geo News. 

The family registered a complaint in a local police station; however, on Feb 20 police personnel from Bahadurabad police station arrested him on charges of stealing motorcycles.

Hamza said that Shabbir had no identity documents on his person and due to his mental illness, he identified himself to the authorities as Bashir Mirza. 

He added that police without any identification arrested him and was later sent to jail. He died in jail on June 19 due to heart failure.

On July 2, a representative of Edhi Foundation, after the deceased`s biometric test called the family for identification.

“Had the police put a little effort to check the identity of my father – the family would not have suffered such a great loss,” said Hamza.

“The face of my dead father told me how many ordeals he had gone through."

“How could a mentally challenged person commit a crime - even if someone registered a complaint against him – it was the responsibility of the police to investigate the case and check the identity of my father,” he said.