Deaths in Township police custody: Forensic report confirms women were addicts: IGP

LAHORE: Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abdul Kareem says the forensic report of the two young women, who had died in Township police station, has confirmed that they had been using addictive drugs or prohibited substances. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, along with other senior officers of Lahore police, he said the forensic report was prepared by a medical board comprising senior doctors. The IGP said that according to the report, both young women died of cardiopulmonary arrest, an acute medical emergency where the heart suddenly stops pumping blood and breathing ceases. He said the report also revealed that the women were using nine kinds of intoxicating substances which led to their death during interrogation in the police custody. To a question, the IGP said that though death of the two women at the same time was unusual, the forensic reports have made it clear that they died of addictive substance. About the progress in the investigation into Hina Javed’s murder case registered in Rawalpindi, the IGP said that three suspects were nominated in the FIR and two of them have been arrested by the police. The victim was found dead in the washroom of her apartment in a housing scheme in Rawalpindi on Thursday evening. The police said the body bore signs of torture, with a wire around the neck and it was tied to the shower rod. The IGP said the Rawalpindi police handled the case professionally by proving during investigations that it was a murder, not a suicide case. The investigations into the Hina Javed’s murder case are underway and the police will soon bring the culprits to the court of law, he added. Talking about the murder of Abdullah Tahir, a PTI ticket-holder from Okara, he said the shooters who targeted the victim fled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab police teams are working on the case to trace and arrest them as soon as possible. Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026

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