06 March 2004	Saturday	14 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, March 5: The Gadap police finally obtained physical custody of their former SHO and two others on Friday in the murder case of two minor sisters.

The accused - Inspector Munir Phulpoto, Sub-inspector Ishtiaq Ahmed and Head Constable Tahir Rajput - were produced before the judicial magistrate, Malir, Farid Anver Qazi, who remanded them to the police custody till March 8 for interrogation in the murder case.

The three policemen along with two other colleagues were also booked in a case pertaining to negligence of official duties. The police obtained on Feb 25 their physical custody initially in that case, which was registered under Section 155 of the Police Order 2002.

Police inquiry has found the SHO guilty of negligence in registration of a kidnapping case after disappearance of the two ill-fated minor girls. The police had not sought their colleagues' remand in the murder case though the grandfather of both girls had pointed out to the court that the policemen had been initially booked in the murder case (FIR No 26/2004).

Later, the judicial magistrate issued a show-cause notice asking the investigation officer concerned to explain the failure of police in showing the arrest of policemen against the FIR registered in the murder of two innocent girls in Gadap.

The notice to this effect was issued on Feb 28 when the court extended the remand of the two accused officials in the case regarding negligence of duty till March 5.

Hajra, 8, and Sassi, 5, had gone missing on Feb 20 in Gadap. Later, the girls were found murdered adjacent to the Gadap police station on Feb 23. Hajra's head was hit with a blunt object and Sassi was shot dead in the head.

The bodies were severely dismembered as dogs and cats nibbled and gnawed them violently and some body parts of Hajra were not found, according to the postmortem examination report.

The postmortem examination, however, remained helpless in detecting rape on Hajra as her posterior part of the body was gnawed by animals and it could not be examined.

The recovery of decomposed bodies triggered violence in the vicinity where people took to the street, lit bonfire and staged a sit-in encircling the area police station in protest.

TOWN NAZIM: The provincial anti-corruption court, headed by Judge Sadiq Bhatti, reserved order on the bail application of the Orangi Town Nazim, who was booked and arrested for misappropriation of official funds.

The judge fixed March 8 for the pronouncement of order on the bail plea of Shahid Alam, also known as Guddu Bihari, who was arrested at his Clifton residence by the anti-corruption establishment for his alleged involvement in misappropriation of Rs10 million development fund.

He has also been on an anticipatory bail from the District and Sessions Court, West, since Aug 20, 2003 in a murder case. He was earlier granted an interim pre-arrest bail on July 8, 2003 in the same case in sum of Rs100,000.