September 12, 2007	Wednesday	Sha'aban 29, 1428

LARKANA, Sept 11: Police on Tuesday arrested six men, including a watchman of Al-Murtaza House, after registration of three FIRs against people who worked for Ms Ghinwa Bhutto and were at the centre of a family dispute over property among Bhuttos.

Mr Khalid Bhutto, Ms Ghinwa Bhutto’s estate manager, confirmed the arrests of six people including Sultan Narejo, watchman of Al-Murtaza House, and said that he, Sultan and three others had accompanied Ms Ghinwa Bhutto to the rice mill on Sept 8 and put locks on the mill’s rooms because, Partab Rai, the contractor, had failed to get the contract renewed after it had expired.

Bhutto family owns property, including a rice mill in Naudero, a petrol pump in Ratodero and a house near Suikarno Tower in Larkana, which is 60.3 per cent owned by Benazir Bhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Sassui Bhutto, and 39.7 per cent by Ghinwa Bhutto, according to sources close to the family.

The property was jointly looked after by Khalid Bhutto, Riaz Hussain Phulpoto, Benazir’s estate manager and Maula Bakhsh Soomro, he said.

“We also went to petrol pump in Ratodero. She talked to Qazi brothers who agreed to renewing the contract for a sum of Rs500,000 raising it from Rs350,000,” he said.

Two days after Ms Ghinwa and her men’s visit to the mill Mohammed Usman Phulpoto who was a ‘munshi’ at the mill, filed an FIR at Naudero police station on Monday night accusing Khalid Bhutto and ten others of issuing him death threats.

Another FIR registered at Civil Lines police station by Abdul Ghani Jatoi, president of Sindh chapter of PSF, accused Khalid Bhutto and four others of breaking into a house on Sept 7 near Suikarno Tower. Khalid and his men threatened him to vacate the house or get killed, he claimed.

Khalid rejected his claim saying that Ms Gihnwa had on Jan 5, 2007 asked Imdad Ali Buriro, her family servant, to live there, and he was still residing in the house.

Oshaque Phulpoto, relative of Riaz Phulpoto, Benazir Bhutto’s estate manager, blamed in an FIR filed at Ratodero police station nine persons for occupying the petrol pump.

Mr Phulpoto did not take any calls when the correspondent tried to reach him but Khursheed Junejo, Benazir Bhutto’s constituency in-charge, claimed that Ms Benazir Bhutto had purchased the house near Suikarno Tower three years ago and it was her property.

Ms Ghinwa Bhutto, meanwhile, released a public notice declaring that Riaz Phulpoto had been removed from his responsibilities after he was found involved in misappropriation, corruption and other malpractices.