March 22, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 21, 1427

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LARKANA, March 21: The Sindh High Court, Larkana bench, on Tuesday summoned 17 policemen on March 28 in connection with a petition filed by Jawed Ahmad Soomro of Bhando Qubo, Ratodero. The petitioner’s counsel said that on March 17, his client and other villagers had taken out a procession in protest against an incident in which Naila Kori had been allegedly injured by Jalbanis. He said a heavy police contingent, led by Ratodero TPO Ghulam Murtaza Mirani, Ghulam Abbas Chandio, Abdul Jabbar Bhutto SHOs of Ratodero and Ketty Mumtaz police stations, had arrived at the scene and beaten up the protesters, injuring some of them.

Later, he alleged, police without any warrants had entered houses in the Bhando Qubo village on the outskirts of Ratodero and looted gold ornaments, Rs1,000,000 in cash and other household articles.

He said police had arrested the petitioner and some other villagers and maltreated them in the Ratodero police lockup. He said the villagers had been released after 10 hours on intervention of elders of the area.

He said the petitioner had approached the Larkana DPO and the Ratodero SHO for lodging an FIR against 17 policemen, including the DPO, TPO, and SHOs of two police stations, but the SHO had refused to register the FIR.

He prayed the court to direct the DPO and the SHO for registering the FIR of the petitioner. He also called for referring the 15 injured villagers for medical check-up.

Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro referred the injured, including eight women, to the medical superintendent of the Chandka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

STPP: Activists of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party on Tuesday took to the streets to protest against demolition of old villages in Karachi.

Carrying banners, placards and party flags, the protesters marched through main roads of the city and staged a sit-in at the Pakistan chowk.