03 February 2005	Thursday	23 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Chairperson Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto has expressed her grief over the death of a 70- year-old fisherman in Kimari allegedly due to torture by a Navy official and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

According to press reports, a 70-year-old poor fisherman, Mr Abdul from Kimari, was brutally tortured last week by a Navy official resulting in his death. The fishermen held a protest demonstration against this atrocity and demanded arrest of the killer.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ms Bhutto said this was not the first time that life and property of the poor people of Pakistan had come under threat by the government officials.

She said the tenants of Okara military farms were still being tortured and hounded. The poor fishermen of Badin were deprived of their rights by the Rangers and now an old man had become a target of atrocities committed by the security apparatus.

She said incidents like this only increased the isolation of the security personnel from the people which was externally detrimental to the morale of the forces. Demanding immediate judicial inquiry into the death of the fisherman, she reiterated her party's commitment to fighting for the rights of the people of Pakistan.