A war crimes accused from Khulna died today in police custody.

Abdul Ashraf Sheikh, 82, was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital this morning from his cell in Dhaka Central Jail, Keraniganj as he fell ill.

As the prison guards escorted him to the hospital, Sheikh was declared dead, Bachchu Mia, in-charge of the police outpost at Dhaka medical, told The Daily Star this afternoon.

Sheikh was sent to jail on May 3 this year by the International Crimes Tribunal after police produced him at the dock in connection with a lawsuit filed over war crimes committed in 1971.