Syed Tufail Haider, 45, (not pictured) was allegedly hacked to death by Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed for insulting the Prophet while in custody

A police officer allegedly hacked a suspect to death with an axe during an interrogation after he uttered 'derogatory remarks' about the Prophet.

Syed Tufail Haider, 45, was arrested for wounding two people in Gujrat, Pakistan, but got into a heated argument with Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed while in custody.

The senior police officer then allegedly struck Mr Haider on the neck with an axe lying in the room at Civil Lines station, a blow which resulted in immediate death, according to the authorities.

This comes just two days after a Christian labourer and his pregnant wife were beaten to death and burned on top of a brick kiln for throwing out a dead relative's Koran in Pakistan.

Sub-Inspector Naveed accused Mr Haider of blasphemy and hurling abuse at officers, with other police officials saying the arrested man was mentally unsound.

'Tufail was kept in the lock-up but he continued uttering derogatory remarks and hurled abuse at policemen. He looked like a malang (wandering preacher) and seemed mentally imbalanced,' duty officer Ali Raza told AFP.

'Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed, 36, became very angry on hearing the derogatory remarks against the companions of the Prophet and he killed the detainee with an axe in the lock up,' he added.

Police have arrested ASI Faraz Naveed and taken the axe into custody. The body of the Mr Haider has been sent to a local hospital for a post-mortem.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has ordered a further investigation of the incident.

Mr Haider was believed to be a member of the minority Shia sect of Islam.

Christian couple Shama Bibi (left) and Shehzad Masih were murdered in Pakistan after a mob accused them of desecrating a copy of the Koran

They were beaten to death and thrown onto a brick kiln (pictured) and by the time the attack was over, only charred bones and the couple's discarded shoes remained

Around 1,000 Shias have been killed in the past two years in Pakistan, a heavy toll on the community that makes up roughly 20 percent of the country's 180 million-strong population.

There has been a recent surge in extra-judicial killings linked to Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

These were put in place during the period of British rule and strengthened by former military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.

Shehzad Masih and Shama Bibi - who was four months pregnant and a mother to three children - were beaten to death and burned two days ago.

The killing was sparked by the mob's belief the couple had desecrated a copy of the Koran.

By the time the attack was over, only charred bones and the couple's discarded shoes remained.