RAWALPINDI, Nov 9: The prayer leader of a mosque at Tench Bhatta died on Saturday morning during a robbery due to cardiac arrest, the Royal Artillery (R.A) Bazaar police claimed.

However, residents on the other hand insisted that the armed men had strangled the Imam as he was tied when found dead.

This confusion will be resolved once the autopsy report is presented by doctors at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

`The autopsy is underway and the report will be filed on Sunday,` said a duty doctor at District Headquarters Hospital while talking to Dawn.

According to the police, at around 3:30am on Saturday, unknown people entered Jamia Masjid Syed located near Qasai Chowk, Tench Bhatta and tied up Imam Masjid Anwar Baig, aged 82, along with Mohammad Siddique.

`The culprits snatched money and fled from the scene. Some people in and around the mosque found the two people and informed the police.

`They were then shifted to the hospital where doctors pronounced the Imam Masjid dead,` said Abid Shah, the investigation officer of R.A. Bazaar police.

He said Mohammad Siddiqui was critically injured and was currently admitted in the hospital.

The investigation officer added that the police were investigating the matter and would soon reveal the facts.

The investigation officer added that apparently, the Imam had died of cardiac arrest.

On the other hand, local residents insisted that the armed men had strangled the prayer leader.

They maintained that the cleric was tied with ropes and they had also found marks on his neck.

He had not died of cardiac arrest, the residents maintained.