A suspect who was allegedly arrested for theft has died while in Police custody on New Year’s Eve in Ntcheu.

Ntcheu Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Sub Inspector, Hastings Chigalu has confirmed the development and has identified the deceased as Stande Nailuwa,42 from Kaunde Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Mlumbe in Zomba.

He said the suspect was a watchman at Ntcheu Magistrates Court.

“At around midnight of December 31, 2020, we were tipped that someone in the cell had collapsed. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival at Ntcheu District Hospital,” Chigalu explained.

Ntcheu Magistrates Court was broken into where various items including computers and other items were stolen on the night between December 21 and 22, 2020.

Police picked Nailuwa for questioning since he was guarding the premises on the night thieves broken into Court premises.

Chigalu said Police are waiting for postmortem to identify the cause of death.