HYDERABAD, Jan 10: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, here on Friday freed four illegal detainees, who had been kept in chains at the Tando Allahyar police station.

The released detainees — Allah Bux, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Majid and Allah Rakhio — were produced before the court by the Tando Allahyar police.

A SHC official, during a raid, found on Thursday the detainees kept in chains at the police station and directed the police to produce them before the court.

The raid was conducted by SHC official Hidayatullah Soomro and was, earlier, ordered by the court during the hearing of a criminal miscellaneous application, filed by advocate Ayaz Latif Palijo on behalf of a villager, Usman Brohi.

He stated that on Nov 26, 2002, SHO Mohammad Yousuf Bhanio, sub-inspector Manzoor Heesbani and investigation officer Muhibullah Abro, picked him up with his 16 relatives.

He stated that they were taken to the police station, where the police asked them to pay Rs200,000, threatening otherwise they would be implicated in a murder case.

The applicant said that after his relatives paid Rs100,000, the police released him and 12 others on Dec 6.

He said that again on Jan 5, the SHO and some policemen apprehended Allah Bux, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Majeed.

He said that the police told them to pay Rs500,000, failing which they would be implicated in heinous crimes.

He said that since then, his seven relatives were kept by police in illegal detention.

The court appointed Soomro to visit the police station. He paid surprise visit to the Tando Allahyar police station on Thursday. He searched the lock-up but found nobody there.

On pointation of the applicant, he visited a residential quarter in the premises of the police station, where he found four detainees — Allah Bux, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Majeed and Allah Rakhio — in chains. Three policemen were guarding the quarter.

The court official told the guarding policemen to bring the detainees in the office of the SHO but they ran away after hiding the detainees in another quarter.

Again a search was conducted by Soomro and the detainees were recovered from another residential quarter.

No entry was made regarding their detention. The court official directed the police to produce the detainees before the court the next day.

The police produced them on Friday before the court, which set them at liberty.— Correspondent