Man dies in Senegal police station

On Wednesday, Dia's body was transferred from Matam to Dakar for an autopsy, a member of the family said.

A Senegalese man, Abdou Dia, has died in custody at a police station in northern Senegal, the National Organisation for Human Rights (ONDH) announced Thursday, fearing foul play.

Dia died after being taken to Matam police station on Tuesday night, said the ONDH, whose President Assane Dioma Ndiaye told AFP that the police - called the family to say that he died in natural circumstances. -

Ndiaye went on to denounce a - practice of torture in police stations and gendarmerie posts. -

A police spokesman, contacted by AFP Thursday, said he had "no official information" and could "neither confirm nor deny" the reports of Dia's death.

- At 11:00 pm (2300 GMT), the police carried out a raid in Matam. They beat him (Abdou Dia) and also his little brother - said a source close to Dia, on condition of anonymity. - Then they took him to the police station where they again mistreated him. -

In Matam, a representative of the African Encounter for the Defence of Human Rights (Raddho) said Thursday on the private Radio Futurs Medias" that Raddho was prepared to - accompany the family in procedure and in filing a suit with the public prosecutor. -

On Wednesday, Dia's body was transferred from Matam to Dakar for an autopsy, a member of the family said.

The ONDH said that an "independent inquiry" was needed because Dia's death was the seventh case within two years in the west African country.