Police claimed Sahibul Islam Saiful, 27, of North Badda was hurt in mob beating, but his relatives alleged he died from police torture.

"A mob beat up Saiful after he shot a guard of a house at Niketan residential area in Gulshan at around 6:00pm Saturday," Duty Officer of Gulshan Police Station Nazrul Islam said.

"Our force went there on information and rescued him from the mob," he said, adding that they recovered a .22 bore Smith and Wesson revolver with three bullets and a motorbike from Saiful.

But a press release by Dhaka Metropolitan Police said a team of Gulshan police arrested Saiful in a raid on Block-F in Niketan. The DMP release did not said anything about the alleged mob beating.

Saiful's relatives said he fell sick yesterday morning following police torture Saturday night.

Police produced a wounded Saiful before the Metropolitan Magistrates' Court, Dhaka yesterday and his lawyer pleaded for bail.

But the court rejected the petition and sent him to hospital for treatment.

Police got him admitted to Mitford hospital where he died from wounds at around 7:00pm. The body was kept at the hospital for post-mortem.

Earlier, an alleged mugger, Ripon, died at the DMCH Friday after he fell sick from beating in police custody on October 21.

Gulshan police claimed he died of diarrhoea, but his inquest report mentioned nothing of the sort, and said his body bore a number bruises.