29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

HYDERABAD, Oct 28: A bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad, on Thursday ordered registration of a case against the SHO of the Qazi Ahmad police station, Nawabshah.

The bench, comprising Justice Syed Zawar Hussain Jaffery and Justice Azizullah Memon, directed the DPO to conduct an inquiry through an officer not below the rank of inspector against SHO Suleman Bhutto and withdraw him from the police station.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Ms Bano, stating that on Oct 16 the SHO, along with policemen, had forcibly entered her house, conducted search and taken away four gold bangles, two lockets, two rings, three earrings, Rs11,000 in cash and one licensed rifle. She said police had also taken away her son, Hafiz Abdul Samad, who was reciting the Holy Quran at that time, and threatened to take her husband to the police station.

She said the SHO had conducted another raid the following day and had taken away family member Yunus and a neighbour, Ameer Mallah, who was in the house at that time.

She said since then the three persons had been in illegal custody at the police station where they were being maltreated and tortured by the respondent and his subordinate staff.

The petitioner told the court that the SHO had threatened her with killing the detainees if she complained to higher authorities.

She said she had tried to approach the Nawabshah sessions court but the SHO had apprehended her and since then she had been living in Hyderabad.

The woman's counsel informed the court that the SHO had released the detainees after receipt of a court notice.

The court noted that the petition had been filed on Oct 20 whereas the FIR against the petitioner's husband had been registered on Oct 25 in an incident that had taken place two months ago.

Sindh AAG Masood A. Noorani filed a statement of the SHO, denying having raided the petitioner's house. He, however, said a case had been registered against the petitioner's husband, which had been handed over to the investigation wing.