Relatives of Abdul Karim, 47, of Anandabazar in Ramna who used to rent out horse-drawn carriages, alleged Ramna police arrested him on Monday and beat him up severely for not paying the toll of Tk 5,000.

Police produced him before a Dhaka court after he fell sick on Tuesday. The court sent him to Dhaka Central Jail on the same day.

He fell sick again around 3:00am yesterday in jail and was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he succumbed to his injuries after an hour.

A police source named Anwar demanded Tk 5,000 toll from Karim on Sunday and threatened to hand him over to the police if he did not comply, said Manik Mia, yonger brother of Karim.

"As my brother did not give Anwar the money, he came with a number policemen on Monday and dragged Karim onto a microbus without showing any arrest warrant," he added.

Ramna police beat him (Karim) up mercilessly in the station cell and sent him to the jail after 24 hours without providing any treatment, he added.

On contact, Ramna police brushed aside the complaint of demanding toll and torture on the detainee. They said police arrested him following an arrest warrant issued by the court.