Patna, Jan.7: A 50-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself with a piece of cloth in the Lalganj police station lock-up in Vaishali district late on Friday night.

Vaishali superintendent of police (SP) Upendra Kumar Sinha today said Shambhu Nath Singh, a resident of Lalbasanta, was arrested from his native village and brought to the police station on Friday. “A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the death of Singh,” he said.

Singh was arrested in connection with the murder of his cousin’s daughter-in-law.

According to sources, the woman was allegedly killed for dowry. Singh was named one of the accused in an FIR lodged by her family with the Lalganj police station last year. The police arrested him on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by a court four months ago.

“Some policemen had beaten up Singh in custody. He could not bear the assault and took the extreme step,” said Lalan Singh, a neighbour of the deceased.

The SP said on finding Singh lying senseless in the lock-up, he was rushed to a hospital in Langanj. Doctors in the hospital, however, referred him to the Sadar hospital in Hajipur because his condition was serious.

“He died on the way to the Hajipur hospital. If any policeman is found guilty, he will be punished,” the SP told The Telegraph.