September 19, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 18, 1429

SANGHAR, Sept 18: An eight-year-old boy was killed and a woman was wounded after they were tortured by police in Moachhora village near Sarhari early on Thursday, villagers claimed.

The Villagers later blocked the Sanghar-Sarhari-Nawabshah road and burnt tyres and placed the body of eight-year-old Shoaib, son of Saifullah Dars, on the road.

According to reports, a police party from Hali Road police station, Hyderabad, headed by ASI Nisar Hisbani raided the village. The police, according to villagers, were searching for two children -- nine-year-old Saeed Ahmed and eight-year-old Faiza. The police entered the houses. The villagers resisted which irked the police who then started beating the villagers. Police used rifle butts to beat villagers as a result of which Shoaib was killed and a woman, Ms Sahibzadi, was injured.

The SHO Sarhari told journalists that an FIR had been registered at Hali Road police station by Ms Nekzadi, a schoolteacher, against her husband Ali Mohammad Dars, alleging that her husband had forcibly taken her children to Sanghar from Hyderabad.

According to SHO Dur Mohammad Bhurt the police party acted on the orders of their superiors and the ASI, who was conducting the raid, had a copy of the FIR. However he said that there were no court orders.

While, Ali Mohammad Dars, husband of Nekzadi, said that his wife was performing teaching duties at the village and some time ago she got herself transferred to Hyderabad. The couple had become estranged and a divorce case was pending in the court, he said.

He said there was an understanding between them that the children would stay two months with their mother and two months with their father. The children had spent two months with their mother and now they have to come to their father.

Ali Mohammad alleged that the woman with connivance of police registered a false case and police conducted an unlawful raid and killed a child. The villagers alleged that the police have had looted cash and ornaments.

While the SHO of Sarhari was insisting that it was a lawful raid and there was an FIR lodged properly and the tragedy occurred due to the resistance of the villagers.

He claimed that the boy had died before the police raid due to some illness. He said they were ready to lodge an FIR against police and would conduct post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

Our Hyderabad staff correspondent adds: Ms Nekzadi has appealed to authorities for the recovery of her two children who, she claimed, have been kidnapped while returning home from their school on Sept 13.

She said when she accompanied the Hali Road police for the children’s recovery she was attacked in the village on Thursday in Sanghar.

Addressing a news conference at the press club Ms Nekzadi said that her children Fiza and Saeed Anwar were kidnapped allegedly by Mohammad Usman, Mohammad Ramzan and Maula Bux while they were returning home from school for which an FIR was lodged with Hali Road police. Police didn’t take any action and then she protested outside the office of DPO.

Thereafter, she said, an ASI of Hali Road police, Nisar Hisbani, was appointed as an inquiry officer by the DPO and a team was formed for conducting the raid in the village.

The raid was conducted on Wednesday night but no accused was arrested and neither her children were recovered.

She said during the raid the accused were not arrested and nor her children were recovered; on the other hand she and her brothers were maltreated.

She feared that Sarhari police had provided a tip-off to the accused about arrival of Hyderabad police to let them flee.

She said villagers then staged a drama that a child had died and they blocked the road. She said police undertook that nothing would happen but murderous assault was made on her life.