August 25, 2007	Saturday	Sha’aban 11, 1428

HYDERABAD, Aug 24: The additional district and sessions judge-I, Hyderabad, on Friday ordered medical examination of 15 people recently arrested in Matiari on Tuesday after they complained of torture in police custody. The judge directed the medical superintendent of the Liaquat University Hospital to submit report of medical examination on or before August 31.

The members of Matiari’s Sarhandi Pir family and their disciples were arrested from their residence and shrine in the town on the charge of attacking a police party, amid a dispute between the Sarhandis and Sand clansmen, also involving the district nazim and the DPO and SHO of Matiari.

On the judge’s directive, the police produced the detainees in the court where they recorded statements on a human rights application filed by Pir Ghulam Mujadid Sarhandi, His counsel Ayaz Tunio said that Mujadid could not turn up in the court because policemen in civvies were present in and around the Civil Courts building and he feared that they would pick him up.

Those arrested, including Pir Ali Sher Sarhandi and Ghulam Mohammad Jan Sarhandi, alleged that they had been severely tortured by the Matiari police, particularly SHO Jiandal Shah and investigating officer Manzoor Mallah, in the presence of servants of Matiari District Nazim Matiari Mohammad Ali Shah Jamote.

Talking to Dawn after recording statements, they said that after their arrest, six of them were shifted to an undisclosed location where they were kept for a night. A police official said that they were kept in the kutcha area, he said.

Ali Sher, brother of the applicant, who appeared in the court on crutches, alleged that the police kept beating him even after his leg had developed a fracture. He said that the police threatened to kill them in a fake encounter.

SHO REPLACED: Meanwhile, the Matiari DPO has replaced Matiari SHO Jiandal Shah with inspector Nazar Deeshak to honour his commitment at the court on Thursday to transfer Jiandal Shah..

DPO Javed Alam Odho has rejected allegations levelled by the Sarhandis against him and other police officials and said that it is pressure tactics to avoid arrests. “I was not part of the raiding team that had gone to investigate cases pending against the Sarhandis. Similarly District Nazim Mohammad Ali Shah Jamote was not in Matiari but in Bahawalpur on that day”, he told Dawn while referring to Tuesday’s police action leading to the Matiari arrests.