May 11, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1428

KHAIRPUR, May 10: Six PPP activists, four of them brothers, were booked by police on Wednesday under section 395, 342, 337AI, 427, 504 PPC on the complaint of one Riaz Hussain Mahar.

The complainant stated that Mohammad Yamin, Ghulam Mustafa with brothers Abdul Karim Naich, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Ghani and Mohram Ali had attacked his general store and damaged goods. One of the accused, Mohammad Yamin, took away Rs20,000 cash, while others held him at gunpoint.

No arrest was made till the filing of this report.

PPP’s Taluka president Amjad Shah, district president of the PPP’s women’s wing Ghazala Siyal and the PPP city president Mohammad Saleh Ansari have condemned the registration of FIR.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Amjad Shah Jilani and others termed the registration of the case as political victimisation.

They said that about five cases had already been lodged against Abdul Karim and his brothers.

They described it as a tactic to put pressure on them to change their loyalty and join the PML-F.

These PPP workers had been implicated in false cases, they said, adding that police too was involved in political victimisation.

Recalling the arrest of Abdul Karim on Oct 23, 2003, they said that he disappeared after the arrest in a case of prisoners’ escape. Earlier, he had hosted an Iftar party in honour of the then district nazim, Nafisa Shah.

They said that the law and order situation was deteriorating in Khairpur district, adding that villagers blocked the National Highway twice last week against police excesses.

They appealed to the Sindh High Court to take suo motu notice of registration of false cases against PPP workers and the PPP-backed Awam Dost union council nazims and councillors.

ARRESTED: Police arrested a truck driver and a cleaner, and lodged an FIR against them for transportation of stolen electricity conductors in a truck from Karachi to Punjab.